ill! 



SATAN 



NEW AND EE VISED EDITION 



BY 

LEWIS SPERRY CHAFER 

BIBLE TEACHER 1 

Author of "True Evangelism," "The Kingdom 
in History and Prophecy," "He that 
is Spiritual," "Salvation," etc. 



PHILADELPHIA, PA. 
THE SUNDAY SCHOOL TIMES COMPANY 
1919 




Copyright, 1919, by 
Lewis Speeby Chafe* 



jAN 20 1920 

©CI.A559447 



FOREWORD 



If any word of mine shall add to the number of 
the readers of this book I shall be glad to have writ- 
ten it ; and I sincerely wish that all believers, and 
especially all ministers and Christian workers, 
might in some way be led to read it. 

The subject is vital to any right understanding 
of the age in which we live, and of the personal 
conflict which we wage; for the existence, per- 
sonality, and power of Satan are awful facts and 
of immense present significance. 

We walk in the midst of his snares, hear on every 
hand his doctrines proclaimed by men of blame- 
less lives "transformed as the ministers of right- 
eousness, " and are allured by the pleasure, place 
and power of his perfectly organized world-system. 

I know of no other book on Satan in which the 
dispensational aspects of the subject are so clearly 
stated, nor any other so severely Biblical. 

C. I. Scofield. 



iii 



INTRODUCTION 
TO THE FIRST EDITION 



The world has been willing to comply with the 
wishes and projects of Satan to the extent of ceas- 
ing to believe that he really exists; this unbelief 
being most advantageous in his present undertak- 
ings. Yet the opinions of men have never changed 
the facts of revelation, and, according to the Bible, 
Satan exists; still possessed with great power and 
influence over the affairs of men — a power and in- 
fluence to be increasingly dreaded as this present 
age advances. 

The teachings of the Scriptures on this impor- 
tant subject are but little understood by Christians 
and seem to be entirely outside the thought of the 
world. It is, therefore, to be expected that any at- 
tempt to present this truth will seem, to many, 
mere folly and fiction. 

The name Satan has by no means been lost. It 
has, however, been associated with a most unscrip- 
tural fancy. Without reference to revelation, the 
world has imagined a grotesque being, fitted with 
strange trappings, who has been made the central 
character in works of fiction and theatrical per- 
formances, and by this relation to that which is 
unreal, the character of Satan has come to be con- 
sidered only one of the myths of a bygone age. 

v 



yi 



Satan 



The Bible reveals a detailed description of the 
person and career of Satan beginning with his cre- 
ation, and includes his original condition, his fall, 
the development and manifestation of his kingdom, 
and his final defeat and banishment. It presents 
a personage so mighty and so prominent in the 
world to-day that the Christian heart would fail, 
were it not for faith in the One who has triumphed 
over all principalities and powers. 

This attempt to outline the Scripture teaching 
on this character will be undertaken under cer- 
tain general conditions: 

First — The authority of the Scriptures of both 
the Old Testament and the New will be accepted 
without question. 

Second — Evidence will be drawn from the Word 
of God alone, since no final light can be found on 
this subject other than it has pleased God to reveal 
in the Bible. 

Third — There will be no discussion as to the per- 
sonality and existence of Satan ; this being both 
assumed and taught in the Bible from Genesis to 
Revelation. 

These pages are prepared especially for believ- 
ers ; knowing that this body of truth will be wholly 
unnoticed or rejected by the unsaved. 

There has also been a deep sense of the serious- 
ness of the undertaking: both because Satan, by 
his present direct power, would, if possible, hinder 
any larger understanding of his projects and pur- 
poses; and because so great a warning has fallen 
from the lips of Christ against the sin of ascribing 



Introduction 



to Satan the things which are really of God (Matt. 
12:22-32). The work has, therefore, been under- 
taken with reliance upon the keeping and guiding 
power of the Spirit of God, and is presented with 
the prayer that believers may have a clearer un- 
derstanding of this important body of truth and be 
able to say with Paul, "We are not ignorant of his 
devices.' ' It is also desired that some clearer vi- 
sion of this mighty foe may be had which will cause 
the child of God to realize the overwhelming power 
of his adversary and be constrained to "be strong 
in the Lord and in the power of his might" that 
greater victory may be had in the realization of the 
whole will of God. 

The Author. 

1909. 



INTRODUCTION 
TO THE REVISED EDITION 



In sending forth a new and revised edition of 
this book, there is abundant reason for gratitude 
to God for His blessing which has so manifestly 
rested upon the first edition during the ten years 
of its circulation. The book was published both 
in England and in the United States and the dis- 
tribution has totalled over twenty-five thousand 
copies. 

The message of this book is still timely. Every 
evidence of the close of the age, mentioned in the 
first edition, has been so increased during the past 
ten years that the statements there made and which 
seemed to some at the time of publishing to be ex- 
treme are now found to be inadequate to describe 
the present conditions in the world. 

May the Lord our God continue to use this book 
to His Own glory and to the edification of His 
people is the prayer of 

The Author. 

1919. 



CONTENTS 



CHAPTER PAGE 

Foreword, by Dr. C. I. Scofield . . iii 

Author's Introduction to the First 

Edition v 

Author's Introduction to the Re- 
vised Edition viii 

I. The Career of Satan ..... 3 

II. The Ages 21 

III. The Course of This Age .... 37 

IV. This Age and the Satanic System . 49 
V. The Satanic Host 62 

VI. Satan's Motive 71 

VII. Satan's Methods 80 

VIII. The Man of Sin ...... 94 

IX. The Fatal Omission Ill 

X. Modern Devices 125 

XI. The Believer's Present Position . 141 

XII. The Believer's Present Victory . 159 

Index of Subjects 173 

Index of Scripture Texts . . . 177 



SATAN 



CHAPTER I 



THE CAREER OF SATAN 

THIS chapter is a brief outline of the past, 
present and future of Satan, which is taken 
up at this point both that the following chapters 
may be more easily studied and because of the fact 
that those passages which deal most directly with 
his earliest condition are closely interwoven with 
predictions of his future and final defeat. 

Revelation in regard to Satan begins with that 
dateless period between the perfect creation of the 
heavens and the earth (Gen. 1: 1) and the desolat- 
ing judgment which ended that period, when the 
earth became waste and empty (Gen. 1:2; Isa. 
24:1; Jer. 4:23-26). One passage, Ezek. 28: 
11-19, deals at length with Satan and his relation 
to that age. In this Scripture, Satan is evidently 
described under the title of "The King of Tyrus." 
Like the Messianic Psalms, — wherein the Psalmist 
is apparently referring to himself, though state- 
ments are made and conditions described that could 
only be connected with the Messiah, the Son of 
God, — so, here, that which is addressed to "The 
King of Tyrus" is, by its character, seen to be a 
direct reference to the person of Satan; for no 
similar person to whom this description could ap- 

3 



4 



Satan 



ply is revealed in the Scriptures. In the previous 
as well as the following chapters the final judgment 
of Jehovah is pronounced upon the enemies of His 
chosen people. Satan is numbered among these 
enemies in 1 Chron. 21 : 1 ; hence he naturally ap- 
pears in this list. 

Every sentence of this extended passage is a dis- 
tinct revelation and is worthy of long and careful 
study. Only a passing reference can be made to it 
here. The passage is as follows : 

"Moreover the word of the Lord came unto me, 
saying, Son of man, take up a lamentation upon the 
King of Tyrus, and say unto him, Thus saith the 
Lord God: Thou sealest up the sum, full of wisdom, 
and perfect in beauty. Thou hast been in Eden 
the garden of God ; every precious stone was thy 
covering, the sardius, topaz, and the diamond, the 
beryl, the onyx, and the jasper, the sapphire, the 
emerald, and the carbuncle and gold : the workman- 
ship of thy tabrets and of thy pipes was prepared 
in thee in the day that thou wast created. Thou 
are the anointed cherub that covereth ; and I have 
set thee so : thou wast upon the holy mountain of 
God; thou hast walked up and down in the midst 
of the stones of fire. Thou wast perfect in thy 
ways from the day thou wast created, till iniquity 
was found in thee. By the multitude of thy mer- 
chandise they have filled the midst of thee with 
violence, and thou hast sinned : therefore I will 
cast thee as profane out of the mountain of God: 
and I will destroy thee. 0 covering cherub, from 
the midst of the stones of fire. Thine heart was 



The Career of Satan 



5 



lifted up because of thy beauty, thou hast cor- 
rupted thy wisdom by reason of thy brightness: 
I will cast thee to the ground, I will lay thee before 
Kings, that they may behold thee. Thou hast de- 
filed thy sanctuaries by the multitude of thy iniqui- 
ties, by the iniquity of thy traffic ; therefore will I 
bring forth a fire from the midst of thee, it shall 
devour thee, and I will bring thee to ashes upon the 
earth in the sight of all them that behold thee. 
All they that know thee among the people shall be 
astonished at thee : thou shalt be a terror, and never 
shalt thou be any more. ' ' 

This passage describes much of the early and lat- 
ter career of Satan. Twice is his creation referred 
to. In verse fifteen it is stated that he was created 
perfect, and in verse thirteen that perfection is set 
forth in detail by the suggestive symbols of precious 
gems. He among all created beings was also 1 6 full 
of wisdom," "perfect in beauty/' filling up the 
sum of perfection. In verse fourteen he is called 
the "anointed cherub that covereth." By this the 
purpose of the Creator is revealed. "While Satan 
doubtless exercised some authority in the earth over 
the primal creation, the evident meaning of this 
verse is that Satan was created as a guard or pro- 
tector to the throne of the Most High. This is rea- 
sonable. Like the golden cherubim, covering the 
visible mercy seat in the Holy of Holies of the 
earthly tabernacle, he was created a guard and 
covering cherub to the heavenly center of Glory. 
It is expressly stated that he was located by the 
Most High upon the holy mountain of God, the 



6 



Satan 



mountain of God being a symbol of the center of 
God's power, government, and eternal throne (Ps. 
48 : 1 ; 68 : 15 ; Isa. 2:2). Over this exalted throne 
Satan was set as a covering cherub. He is also said 
to have been in "Eden, the garden of God," which 
is evidently another Eden than that in which Satan 
appeared as a serpent. The Eden of Genesis was 
one of verdure and cosmic beauty, while this is an 
Eden of "stones of fire.'' No king of Tyrus was 
ever in either of the Edens mentioned in the Bible. 
The title belongs most evidently to Satan. The 
whole passage suggests a position of great author- 
ity for which he was created and anointed; a po- 
sition from which he fell, drawing with him a host 
of beings over whom he had governing influence and 
power. 

Again, it is stated that Satan was perfect in all 
his ways from the day he was created. It is im- 
portant to notice both that he was created, and that 
he was created perfect. Since he was created, he is 
not self-existent, and never can be free from his 
dependence upon the Creator. He may vainly pro- 
pose to become independent, and even be permitted 
for a time to act under that delusion ; but that only 
delays the inevitable judgment that awaits him. 
He was created perfect, or was a perfect fulfilment 
of the Creator's intention. Satan was a free moral 
agent, capable of choosing evil but not obliged to 
do so. That he chose evil must ever be his own 
condemnation, for the Creator had surrounded him 
with sufficient motives for choosing the good. 
Christ said of him, "He was a murderer from the 



The Career of Satan 7 



beginning, and abode not in the truth." It is thus 
revealed that Satan began in the truth, but after- 
wards turned to a state wherein Christ could go on 
to say of him, " There is no truth in him. When 
he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own : for he is a 
liar, and the father of it" (John 8 : 44). 

The crime of Satan is partly revealed in verse 
sixteen and this is followed by an exact description 
of his final judgment as it is predicted in the book 
of Eevelation. 

An important teaching of this passage is of Sa- 
tan's first position and power— a power and wis- 
dom sufficient to guard the throne of God from 
every possible enemy, and a glory and beauty that 
would become the highest officer in the Court of 
Heaven. By this revelation his present position 
and power may be estimated. 

Another revelation next in importance is that of 
his crime which is clearly set forth in Isa. 14: 
12-20. Before reading this passage it should be 
noticed that the prophet's vision of Satan, here re- 
corded, is from the time of his final judgment, and 
the prophet is looking backward over Satan's whole 
career. Much that is still future is, therefore, re- 
ferred to as though it were past. The passage is 
as follows : 

"How art thou fallen from heaven, 0 Lucifer, 
son of the morning ! How art thou cut down to the 
ground, which didst weaken the nations ! For thou 
hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, 
I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I 
will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in 



8 



Satan 



the sides of the north: I will ascend above the 
heights of the clouds ; I will be like the Most High. 
Yet thou shalt be brought down to hell, to the sides 
of the pit. They that see thee shall narrowly look 
upon thee, and consider thee, saying, Is this the 
man that made the earth to tremble, that did shake 
kingdoms; that made the world as a wilderness, 
and destroyed the cities thereof; that opened not 
the house of his prisoners? All the kings of the 
nations, even all of them, lie in glory, every one 
in his own house. But thou art cast out of thy 
grave like an abominable branch, and as the rai- 
ment of those that are slain, thrust through with a 
sword, that go down to the stones of the pit ; as a 
carcass trodden under feet." 

This heavenly title, "Lucifer, Son of the Morn- 
ing," speaks of his first place in the celestial sphere, 
when the morning stars sang together and all the 
sons of God shouted for joy (Job 38 : 7). Christ is 
"The Bright and Morning Star," "The Sun of 
Righteousness" who shall yet arise with healing in 
His wings. 

Has Satan ever fallen from heaven? The "Word 
of God alone can answer this question. There are 
seven passages which should be considered in this 
connection : 

1. Ezek. 28:16. "Thou hast sinned: therefore 
I will cast thee as profane out of the mountain of 
God." 

This prediction of judgment, with others which 
follow in the context and with which this casting 
out is associated, are predictions of the yet future 



The Career of Satan 9 



judgments which are to fall upon Satan when he 
is banished to the pit and to the lake of fire. This 
passage does not teach that Satan was cast out of 
heaven at the time of his sin and as an immediate 
judgment for his sin. 

2. Isa. 14:12. 4 4 How art thou fallen from 
heaven, 0 Lucifer, son of the morning ! ' ' 

This Scripture, as has been stated, is also a de- 
scription of that final judgment which is to be at 
the very end of Satan's career. 

3. Job 1:6. "Now there was a day when the 
sons of God came to present themselves before the 
Lord, and Satan came also among them." 

There seems to be nothing unusual in the appear- 
ance and presence of Satan among these heavenly 
beings. The passage discloses his position in 
heaven and also reveals the fact that, in the days 
of Job, Satan was free to go and come in the earth. 

4. Luke 22 : 31, 32. "And the Lord said, Simon, 
Simon, behold, Satan hath desired to have you [ob- 
tained thee by asking], that he may sift you as 
wheat. ' ' 

From this Scripture we may conclude that Satan 
still had unchallenged access to the presence of 
God in the day when this was spoken. 

5. Eph. 6:11, 12, R. V. "Put on the whole 
armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against 
the wiles [strategies] of the devil. For our wres- 
tling is not against flesh and blood, but against the 
principalities, against the powers, against the world 
rulers of this darkness, against the spiritual hosts 
of wickedness in the heavenlies." 



10 



Satan 



According to the Scriptures, throughout this age 
the believer must be prepared to war against a 
"spiritual host of wickedness in the heavenlies." 
The contributing evidence of this passage is to the 
effect that Satan is not yet cast out of heaven. 

There is another revelation concerning Satan's 
present position in which it is declared that he now 
has access to the earth. "Be sober, be watchful: 
your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh 
about, seeking whom he may devour: whom with- 
stand steadfast in the faith" (1 Pet. 5: 8, 9). To 
this may also be added the revelation disclosed in 
the letter to the church at Pergamos, Rev. 2 : 13 : 
"I know thy works, and where thou dwellest, even 
where Satan's seat [throne] is." 

From these passages it may be concluded that the 
position of Satan in heaven and his freedom to go 
to and fro in the earth has not changed since the 
days of Job. 

6. Rev. 12 : 7-9. "And there was war in heaven: 
Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; 
and the dragon fought and his angels, and pre- 
vailed not; neither was there place found any 
more in heaven. And the great dragon was cast 
out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, 
which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out 
into the earth, and his angels were cast out with 
him." 

This is the first passage in the "Word of God 
which declares Satan to be actually banished from 
heaven. The passage also teaches that Satan re- 
mains in heaven until the time herein described. 



The Career of Satan n 



According to the context it is that yet future time 
immediately preceding the setting up in the earth 
of the kingdom of God and the power of His Christ. 

7. Lk. 10:18. "And he said unto them, I be- 
held Satan as lightning fall from heaven." 

In the light of the passage just considered, it 
must be concluded that this was a prophetic utter- 
ance on the part of Christ, rather than a statement 
of history. The seventy had just returned with 
joy saying, "Lord, even the devils are subject unto 
us through thy name. ' ' 

There is no question concerning the sufficiency 
of the power of God over Satan. It is only a ques- 
tion as to when that power will be exercised. The 
experience by the seventy of power over devils was 
only a suggestion to the mind of Christ of the 
mighty power which would yet be displayed in 
banishing Satan and his hosts from the heavenly 
sphere. 

It is important to distinguish Satan's yet future 
physical banishment out of heaven from his moral 
fall. He undoubtedly fell morally at the moment 
of his sin, but his position throughout the ages, or 
until the return of the King, is in heaven. From 
this high position he has access both to God and 
to the earth. 

There is not the slightest Biblical basis for the 
theory that Satan or any of his hosts are now oc- 
cupying hell. Though it is revealed that Satan 
is now a heavenly being, there is no evidence that 
there is agreement or fellowship between God and 
Satan. God's final judgments against Satan are 



12 



Satan 



not yet executed. In like manner, God has not yet 
caused sin to cease in the earth ; but the day is com- 
ing when He will. 

Returning to Isa. 14 : 12-20, the passage under 
consideration, we read of two aspects of Satan's 
present activity: He is first seen to be seeking to 
establish authority for himself and then he is seen 
to be the promoter of confusion and terror in the 
earth. He said, "I will exalt my throne above the 
stars of God," and it is also said of him: "Is this 
the man that made the earth to tremble, that did 
shake kingdoms; that made the world as a wilder- 
ness, and destroyed the cities thereof; that opened 
not the house of his prisoners ? 1 ' 

The crime of Satan is concisely stated in the 
fourteenth verse as being a purpose in his heart to 
become like the Most High. His heart was lifted 
up because of his beauty ; he who was created and 
placed as the " Covering Cherub," with the high 
honor of guarding the throne of God, has corrupted 
his wisdom by reason of his brightness; he has 
struck at the throne which he was set to protect. 
It was a purpose in his heart which would require 
the time of the ages wholly to destroy. There 
could be but one Most High, and the purpose of 
Satan to become like Him could, naturally, be noth- 
ing less than an attempt to dethrone the Almighty. 

Satan was the first being to manifest a will op- 
posed to the will of God. In the above passage 
from Isaiah, five "I wills" are recorded of him: 

' ' I will ascend into heaven. ' 7 

"I will exalt my throne above the stars of God." 



The Career of Satan 13 



"I will sit also upon the mount." 

i( I will ascend above the heights of the clouds." 

"I will be like the Most High." 

The secret purpose in his heart reveals his method 
to be not a violent attack upon the throne ; but, like 
Absalom, to steal the hearts of the unfaithful in the 
kingdom, and, through subtlety, to gain a kingdom 
for himself. He would thus become an object of 
worship and attract attention from other beings to 
himself. To accomplish this, a hindering attitude 
must be assumed toward the purpose and projects 
of the Most High. No adequate appreciation can 
be formed of Satan's present projects and devices, 
and the motive that prompts them, without a clear 
understanding of his age-abiding attitude toward 
the Person of God. 

There are two prominent events revealed in the 
history of Satan, falling within the period of time 
when he proposed in his heart to become like the 
Most High and his yet future banishment and exe- 
cution. The first of these was his meeting with 
and triumph over the first Adam, when he wrested 
the scepter of authority from man, by securing 
man's loyal obedience to his own suggestion and 
counsel. This earthly scepter Satan held by the 
full right of conquest, seemingly without challenge 
from Jehovah, until the first advent of the Last 
Adam ; this meeting of the Last Adam, Christ, with 
Satan being the second great event which is re- 
vealed during this period in his career. Only the 
unfolding of the coming ages can reveal the mag- 
nitude of this terrible conflict. A glimpse is re- 



14 



Satan 



vealed from time to time of the unceasing effort of 
Satan to triumph over the Last Adam, as he had 
triumphed over the first. He met the Lord Jesus 
in the wilderness, offering Him all he had gained 
from the first Adam, even the kingdoms of this 
world; if only he might become like the Most High, 
and receive the obedient worship and adoration of 
the Last Adam, the Son of God. Again he is seen 
voicing his attempt to dissuade the Christ from 
His sacrificial death, through the impetuous Peter 
(Matt. 16:23). 

Since Satan had been in authority over the 
primal earth, it is reasonable to believe that he was 
filled with jealousy and hatred toward Adam, the 
newly created being to whom the earth authority 
was given. Satan made an attack upon Adam and 
wrested the scepter from his hand. God then de- 
creed that there should be enmity between the 
seed of the woman and Satan. In tracing the line 
of the seed from Eden to Calvary, we may discern 
the constant attack of Satan upon this line of seed, 
and note as well the unfailing divine protection 
and intervention. The first born of Adam is men- 
tioned in 1 John 3: 12 as, "Cain, who was of that 
wicked one and slew his brother. ' 9 But God raised 
up Seth. Thus it ever was. 

However victorious Satan may have been over the 
first Adam, it is certain that he met a complete and 
final judgment and sentence in the Last Adam, and 
that the bruising of the serpent's head which was 
a part of the Adamic covenant was realized. Re- 
ferring to His cross, Jesus said, "'Now is the judg- 



The Career of Satan 15 



ment of this world, now shall the prince of this 
world be cast out" (John 12:31). And again in 
John 16:11, "Of judgment because the prince of 
this world is judged." Still another Scriptural 
testimony to this great defeat of Satan is recorded 
in Col. 2:13-15: "Having forgiven you all tres- 
passes ; blotting out the handwriting of ordinances 
that was against us, which was contrary to us, and 
took it out of the way, nailing it to the cross ; and 
having spoiled principalities and powers, he made a 
show of them openly, triumphing over them in it." 
It is, therefore, clear that, though Satan may have 
triumphed over the first Adam and thereby become 
the god and prince of this world, he himself was 
perfectly and finally triumphed over and judged 
by the Last Adam in the cross. 

It is quite possible, however, that a sentence may 
be pronounced and made known some time before 
the sentence is actually executed. During such an 
interval a criminal is said to be under sentence 
awaiting his execution which some higher authority 
has decreed. This period of sentence is that in 
which Satan appears in the present age, which age 
had its beginning with the cross. Execution of 
this sentence would have banished him forever. 
That he is not banished is revealed in the fact that 
he, even after his judgment in the cross, is referred 
to in the Scriptures as still being in authority over 
this world. 

An illustration of Satan 's present relation to this 
world may be taken from the history of Saul and 
David. It is natural that David, the first to occupy 



i6 



Satan 



the Davidic throne, should be a type of Christ, 
predicted to be the last and most glorious occupant 
of that throne (Luke 1:31-33). As there was a 
period between the anointing of David and the 
final banishment of Saul, in which Saul reigned as 
a usurper, though under divine sentence and David 
was the God-appointed king: in like manner there 
is now a similar period in which Satan rules as a 
usurper, though under sentence; and the actual 
occupation of Christ's throne is still future. In 
this period Satan, the rejected monarch, still rules; 
hunting to the death all those who have allied them- 
selves with Christ, the God-anointed King. 

Why Satan is thus allowed to continue his reign 
is perhaps but partly revealed. The real Church 
which is the Bride of Christ, is to sit with Him 
upon His throne (Rev. 3 : 21 ; 1 Cor. 6 : 2, 3 ; Matt. 
19:28), and the present age must continue until 
that glorious heavenly people are gathered out from 
the world. Again, it seems the course of God's 
purpose to make a sufficient and final trial of every 
claim of His adversaries; and when this age, with 
all its developments, shall have passed by, every 
mouth will be stopped, and the whole world and 
Satan will know their own failure and sin before 
God. They will stand self -condemned, and noth- 
ing could accomplish this but the testing, by actual 
trial, of all the self-sufficient claims of Satan and 
man. The sin of man has brought him under sen- 
tence too, and grace alone withholds his immediate 
execution (John 3:18; Eom. 5:18, 19). Though 
the day of execution is, in the purpose of God de- 



The Career of Satan 17 



layed, it is, nevertheless, sure ; and the time is fast 
approaching when an awful destruction of self- 
enthroned beings will be executed, and He alone 
shall reign, whose right it is to reign, ' 'for he 
must reign until he hath put all enemies under 
his feet" (1 Cor. 15:25). The Kingly Son shall 
yet arise and claim the nations of the earth and 
" break them with a rod of iron, and dash them in 
pieces as a potter's vessel" (Ps. 2:9). 

Another probable reason for the delay in the 
termination of evil in the world and the execution 
of judgment upon Satan is that the presence of 
evil in the world provides the Christian with a 
ceaseless conflict by which he can alone gain the 
character of an overcomer. This character is vital 
and is priceless in the sight of God. 

So, also, the Christian is privileged to be a wit- 
ness. (The word witness is from the same root as 
martyr.) By his faithful testimony against the 
enemy of God, the believer is able to gain his crown 
and reward. This, too, is priceless in the sight of 
God. 

It would seem that, until near the end of his ca- 
reer, Satan cherishes the expectation of actually 
accomplishing his purpose (though the demon tes- 
timony of Matt. 8: 29 is suggestive on this point). 
Preceding his banishment to the pit, he is violently 
cast out of heaven and into the earth, according to 
Rev. 12 : 7-12 ; and his activity from that time on 
is limited to that sphere. He is no longer granted 
access to God. The passage is as follows : 

"And there was war in heaven: Michael and his 



Satan 



angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon 
fought and his angels, and prevailed not; neither 
was there place found any more in heaven. And 
the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, 
called the Devil, and Satan, which deeeiveth the 
whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and 
his angels were cast out with him. And I heard a 
loud voice saying in heaven, Xow is come salvation 
and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the 
power of His Christ : for the accuser of our breth- 
ren is cast down, which accuseth them before God 
day and night. And they overcame him by the 
blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testi- 
mony; and they loved not their lives unto the 
death. Therefore rejoice, ye heavens, and ye that 
dwell in them. Woe to the inhabitants of the earth 
and of the sea! for the devil is come down unto 
you, having great wrath, because he knoweth that 
he hath but a short time. ' ? 

Here Satan is pictured as being in great wrath 
as he is banished from heaven into the earth, 
"knowing that he has but a short time." After 
this short time, in which occurs the great tribula- 
tion in the earth, Satan is bound and cast into a 
pit; this being an event in the glorious return of 
Christ to the earth, where He will reign on the 
throne of His father David for a thousand years. 
Satan is confined to the pit during the same period, 
at the end of which he is released for ' ' a little sea- 
son. " He then gathers an army for a last attack 
upon the government and people of God, which 
ends in his being banished to the lake of fire, where 



The Career of Satan 19 



he me^ts his final and long predicted doom. These 
events are clearly stated in their order in the nine- 
teenth and twentieth chapters of Revelation, A 
portion of this Scripture is here given : 

"And I saw an angel come down from heaven, 
having the key of the bottomless pit [abyss] and 
a great chain in his hand. And he laid hold on 
the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, 
and Satan, and bound him a thousand years. And 
cast him into the bottomless pit [abyss], and shut 
him up, and set a seal upon him, that he should 
deceive the nations no more, till the thousand years 
should be fulfilled : and after that he must be loosed 
a little season. . . . And when the thousand years 
are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison, 
and shall go out to deceive the nations which are in 
the four quarters of the earth, Gog and Magog, to 
gather them together to battle : the number of whom 
is as the sand of the sea. And they went up on 
the breadth of the earth, and compassed the camp 
of the saints about, and the beloved city : and fire 
came down from God out of heaven, and devoured 
them. And the devil that deceived them was cast 
into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast 
and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented 
day and night for ever and ever" (Rev. 20: 1-10). 

Satan is thus revealed as having been created 
perfect in all his ways, mighty in power, and full 
of beauty and wisdom. While thus privileged, he 
proposed in his heart a stupendous project — him- 
self to become like the Most High. Though re- 



20 



Satan 



maining in heaven and having access to God, he is 
seen wresting the world scepter from man; ruling 
as the god of this world, until the judgment of the 
cross; and after that he still rules as a usurper. 
At the end of the age he is cast out of heaven into 
the earth, with further access to the former denied ; 
from thence to the pit ; and finally is banished to 
the lake of fire forever. 

This review of the career of Satan is made at this 
point in order to call attention to the direct and 
mighty influence he exerts upon the affairs of this 
world according to his varying positions and free- 
dom. 

After Satan rebelled, humanity, too, was thrown 
into an abnormal and almost universal attitude of 
independence toward God; and this continues be- 
yond the cross to the end of the age with increasing 
confusion and darkness. The only exception to 
this rebellion is the little company of believers, 
and how real is the tendency to the self-governed 
life of the old nature, even among these! When 
Satan is cast out of heaven and limited to the earth, 
there is the tribulation upon the earth of which 
Jesus speaks in Matt. 24: 21, and which is also re- 
ferred to in Dan. 12 : 1. When Satan is bound and 
put in the pit, and the promised Kingdom of 
Christ has come, there is peace covering the earth 
as waters cover the face of the deep. 

Can it be doubted that this mighty being is a 
living power, acting directly over the affairs of 
men, even in this self -glorying age? 



CHAPTER II 



THE AGES 

IT is a conspicuous fact that the comparatively 
few errors and inconsistencies in translation 
found in the English Authorized Version of the 
New Testament serve to hinder, directly or indi- 
rectly, any clear understanding of the teachings of 
the Scriptures in regard to the conditions and re- 
lationships of the world at the present time. Even 
the Revision did not greatly relieve this confusion 
beyond the addition of some helpful marginal ren- 
derings. It would seem, if it were possible, that 
Satan, the author of confusion and the only one 
advantaged by it, had been able in some subtle way 
to keep in darkness that which otherwise would be 
light; thus preventing a revelation of his own 
projects. 

The continuation of these misleading translations 
is most evident in the unqualified use of the Eng- 
lish word ' i world.' ' This word which, in common 
usage, has a limited meaning is used by the trans- 
lators as the one English rendering for at least 
three widely differing ideas in the Greek text. 
Hence if the truth contained in this important body 
of Scripture is to be understood, the student must 
not only know the various meanings which are ex- 

21 



22 



Satan 



pressed by the one word, but also be able to de- 
termine the correct use of the word in any single 
instance. This necessary effort to understand the 
real meaning of many passages has, therefore, 
placed the simple truth they contain beyond the 
^average reader of the Bible. 

The English word "world" as used in the New 
Testament may mean a distinct period of time, 
commonly known as an age (as its original is a few 
times translated) ; or it may refer to the things 
created — the earth, its inhabitants, or their insti- 
tutions. Two of these original meanings are used 
in connection with this present time. 

First, as to an age, or period of time : The ages 
are often referred to in the Scriptures, and the 
study of the exact conditions and purposes of each 
of them is not a fanciful pursuit, but is rather the 
only adequate foundation for any true knowledge 
of the Bible. It is not possible to consider all the 
ages in this chapter, but only such as may be eon- 
fused with the present one. 

The age of law, which began with the giving of 
the law at Mount Sinai and ended, approximately, 
with the death of Christ, is mentioned by Zacharias 
in his prophecy at the birth of John: "As he 
spake by the mouth of his holy prophets which have 
been since the world [age] began" (Lk. 1:70). 
The same period is referred to by Peter in Acts 
3 : 21 : "Whom the heavens must receive until the 
restitution of all things, which God hath spoken 
by the mouth of all his prophets since the world 
[age] began." These references, it will be seen, 



The Ages 



23 



are not to the creation of the world, as the English 
rendering would indicate; but to the beginning of 
that particular period in which the prophets spake. 

The present age of grace, in which the grace of 
God has had its appearing unto salvation, began 
where the age of law ended, or with the death of 
Christ; and will continue until He comes again. 
The duration of this age is suggested by the com- 
munion table which, being peculiar to this age, will 
continue to its end. Of this sacrament it is said: 
"As oft as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye 
do show the Lord's death till he come" (1 Cor. 
11:26). 

As a distinct period of time this age is mentioned 
by the word "world" no less than forty times in 
the New Testament. A few of these passages fol- 
low: "And whosoever speaketh a word against 
the son of man, it shall be forgiven him : but who- 
soever speaketh against the Holy Spirit, it shall not 
be forgiven him, neither in this world [age], 
neither in the world [age] to come" (Matt. 12 : 32). 
"And as he sat upon the Mount of Olives, the dis- 
ciples came to him privately, saying, Tell us, when 
shall these things be? and what shall be the sign 
of thy coming, and of the end of the world [age] ?" 
(Matt. 24: 3). "The field is the world [men] ; the 
good seed are the children of the kingdom ; but the 
tares are the children of the wicked one ; the enemy 
that sowed them is the devil ; the harvest is the end 
of the world [age] ; and the reapers are the angels" 
(Matt. 13:38, 39). "And, lo, I am with you al- 
way, even unto the end of the world [age] " (Matt. 



24 



Satan 



28:20). "For the children of this world [age] 
are in their generation wiser than the children of 
light" (Lk. 16:8). "And set him at his own 
right hand in the heavenlies, far above all princi- 
pality, and power, and might, and dominion, and 
every name that is named, not only in this world 
[age], but that which is to come" (Eph. 1: 20, 21). 
"We should live soberly, righteously, and godly in 
this present world [age] " (Titus 2 : 12). By these 
and many other passages, it may be seen that the 
present age is a particular limited period of time 
in which special conditions are to prevail, and defi- 
nite purposes are to be realized. 

Judging from the mass of Christian writings and 
from utterances in public address and prayer, this 
age is assumed by many, without question, to be 
the kingdom of Christ; though no Scripture is 
found to warrant that conclusion. 

There is a kingdom of God which embraces the 
entire universe, over which God is enthroned, and 
to this kingdom every enemy must finally be 
brought back to original subjection and adjust- 
ment, or be banished forever. This final victory is 
described in 1 Cor. 15 : 24, 25 : "Then cometh the 
end, when he [Christ] shall have delivered up the 
kingdom to God, even the Father; when he shall 
have put down all rule and all authority and 
power. For he must reign, till he hath put all 
enemies under his feet." 

There is a still more extensive body of Scripture 
which anticipates a literal kingdom of righteous- 
ness and peace upon the earth ; this theme being the 



The Ages 



25 



burden of the Old Testament prophets, and was 
announced by John the Baptist, by Christ and His 
disciples. This announcement was simple and 
plain: "The kingdom of heaven is at hand." 
The expression "at hand" here used is significant, 
indicating not necessarily the immediate future, 
though the kingdom was definitely offered to that 
generation: but that the earthly kingdom was the 
next event which had been clearly announced by 
the prophets. When the Messiah had been posi- 
tively rejected by the Jews, He began alone, with- 
out even the sympathy of His disciples, to unfold 
this forthcoming mystery-age which had been kept 
secret in the councils of God. The purpose of this 
age was more perfectly revealed to Paul, the first 
messenger to the Gentiles. Of this revelation of a 
hitherto unknown age and its purpose, Paul writes 
in Eph. 3:1-11: "For this cause I Paul, the 
prisoner of Jesus Christ for you Gentiles, if ye 
have heard of the dispensation of the grace of God 
which is given to me to you-ward : how that by 
revelation he made known unto me the mystery; 
(as I wrote afore in few words, whereby, when ye 
read, ye may understand my knowledge in the 
mystery of Christ' which in other ages was not 
made known unto the sons of men, as it is now re- 
vealed unto his holy apostles and prophets by the 
Spirit ; that the Gentiles should be fellow-heirs, 
and of the same body, and partakers of his prom- 
ise in Christ by the gospel : whereof I was made a 
minister, according to the gift of the grace of God 
given unto me by the effectual working of his 



26 



Satan 



power. Unto me, who am less than the least of all 
saints, is this grace given, that I should preach 
among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of 
Christ ; and to make all men see what is the fellow- 
ship of the mystery, which from the beginning of 
the world hath been hid in God, who created all 
things by Jesus Christ : to the intent that now unto 
the principalities and powers in heavenly places 
might be known by the church the manifold wisdom 
of God, according to the eternal purpose which he 
purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord." 

The same truth is emphasized in Kom. 16 : 25 : 
"Now to him that is of power to stablish you ac- 
cording to my gospel, and the preaching of Jesus 
Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery, 
which was kept secret since the world began." 

This new age of the Gentiles was also to have its 
hope centered in Jesus Christ, but in His sacri- 
ficial death rather than His kingly reign. It was to 
be an age in which the Gentiles were to be visited 
and a people called out from them for His own 
Person (Acts 15 : 14) ; and these people, who are 
the real Church, were to be built together upon a 
rock (Matt. 16:18); their glorious salvation and 
final heavenly perfection were to rest only on His 
perfect and finished work for them. By this divine 
transformation, He would secure out of all nations, 
both Gentiles and Jews, a heavenly people; wholly 
fitted in quality to be His own body, His heavenly 
bride, and a kingdom of priests unto God. 

All this, though not revealed in past ages, was 
known in the councils of God (Acts 15 : 18), and is 



The Ages 



27 



parenthetical in the history of the Jew. It is a de- 
lay of their earthly kingdom and in no way its ful- 
filment or substitute. 

Want of knowledge concerning the right divi- 
sions of truth is also evident in the general impres- 
sion that God has cast off His people, the Jews, and 
that the Gentiles are their rightful successors and 
the recipients of the blessings of their unfulfilled 
prophecies. This confusion is due to a failure to 
distinguish between this and the following age. 

Two distinct lines of seed were promised to Abra- 
ham. One, an earthly seed, to be like the dust of 
the earth, without number (Gen. 13:16), centered 
wholly in the earth by a relationship of physical 
generation : the other seed were likened to the stars 
of heaven, without number (Gen. 15:5), centered 
wholly in the heavenlies by a relationship of Spirit 
regeneration, which is the present answer of God 
to all true Abrahamic faith (Rom. 4:1-5). The 
earthly people found their origin in the physical 
fatherhood of Abraham: while the heavenly peo- 
ple find theirs in the shed blood of Christ. One 
had an earthly history from Abraham's time to 
their dispersion among the Gentiles — a history 
which will yet be resumed and the everlasting cov- 
enants fulfilled in the faithfulness of God: the 
other has a transient earthly pilgrimage from the 
cross continuing until their completion as a sepa- 
rated people ; when they will be caught up to meet 
and marry their Bridegroom, and be forever with 
the Lord (1 Thes. 4:13-17). 

To one, Christ is the coming glorious Messiah, 



28 



Satan 



who will sit upon the throne of His father. David 
(Lk. 1:31-33), in a literal earthly kingdom (else 
all Scripture language fails) : to the other, He is 
the glorious Head of the Body, and coming Bride- 
groom. One of these lines of seed will be the 
favored subjects in the earthly kingdom : while 
the other will be in His bosom as a bride, and be 
associated with Him in His reign (1 Cor. 6:2; 
Rev. 3:21). 

As these two lines of seed are everywhere dis- 
tinct, there must be at least two separate ages for 
the accomplishment of these ends. What, then, 
are these ages ! 

If it is believed that an earthly kingdom, with 
Messiah as King, is promised the Jew, it must also 
be admitted that the Jew is not now enjoying that 
kingdom; nor has he had any semblance of a 
kingdom during all the centuries since his disper- 
sion among the Gentiles. This age cannot, there- 
fore, be the predicted earthly kingdom of Christ. 
Turning to Acts 15 : 13-18, a description of the 
present age and that which will follow is found. 
The passage is as follows: "And after they had 
held their peace, James answered, saying, Men 
and brethren, hearken unto me : Simeon hath de- 
clared how God at the first did visit the Gentiles, to 
take out of them a people for his name. And to 
this agree the words of the prophets; as it is writ- 
ten, after this I will return, and will build again 
the tabernacle of David, which is fallen down : and 
I will build again the ruins thereof, and I will 
set it up; that the residue of men might seek 



The Ages 



29 



after the Lord, and all the Gentiles, upon whom 
my name is called, saith the Lord, who doeth all 
these things. Known unto God are all his works 
from the beginning of the world." 

It is recorded that after His resurrection Jesus 
was seen for forty days by the apostles whom He 
had chosen, and during this time He was speak- 
ing to them concerning the kingdom of God. It 
was natural, therefore, for them to inquire, at 
the end of those days, "Lord, wilt thou at this 
time restore again the kingdom unto Israel?" 
(Acts 1:6) and they had full warrant from the 
prophets to expect that great event when their 
Messiah came. They had not, however, grasped the 
meaning of the then dawning age of the gather- 
ing out of the Bride, and in this passage they are 
seen adjusting themselves to the newly revealed 
divine program, and recognizing the God-appointed 
delay in the predicted earthly kingdom. 

In Acts 15 : just referred to, the purpose of two 
distinct ages is set forth. The first age is described 
as the "visiting of the Gentiles," that from among 
them a heavenly people may be called out, and is 
a description of this present age, which had its be- 
ginning in the very generation in which this pass- 
age was written; for no previous age could meet 
these conditions. The second age, here described, 
is that of a rebuilding of the Davidic order which 
is clearly separated from the former age by the 
return of Christ. This same order of events is also 
carefully maintained wherever these events are 
referred to in the Bible, and any confusion of 



30 



Satan 



the order is a positive violence to the truth. The 
revealed consummation of this Gentile age is al- 
ways the return of Christ, who comes first to re- 
ceive His own; then to render judgment upon all 
the nations, and to bind the enemy and place him 
in the pit. The same return of Christ is the neces- 
sary preliminary event before any kingdom of 
righteousness and peace can be realized upon the 
earth. No amount of enlightened sentiment can 
establish the kingdom without the King; and no 
universal blessedness can be experienced in this 
world until the enemy is dethroned and banished. 
Sadly has the world failed to include these two 
necessary divine movements, in its vain dream 
and godless attempt at a perfected universe ! 

The purpose of this age is then defined as the 
visiting of the Gentiles to call out of them a peo- 
ple for His name; the called out people being the 
true Church (as that word signifies), which is made 
up of all the saved ones who have been saved since 
the Day of Pentecost at which time the Spirit 
came to unite them into one body and to indwell 
them. They are the heavenly people, regenerate 
and complete in Christ, their Bridegroom and 
living Head. 

When this age is considered as the kingdom of 
Christ, it is usually thought of as in a state of 
development. This is a necessary conclusion in 
view of the presence of sin and failure in the 
world. But the setting up of the earthly kingdom 
is never described as the result of a process. The 
Bible deals conclusively with this question. 



The Ages 



3i 



In Dan. 2 : 34-35, an image is described, which is 
defined as being a symbol of the then dawning 
Gentile world power (which power is still continu- 
ing, Lk. 21 : 24) . The image is here made to rep- 
resent both the development of world rule and 
its final ending. The image by its various sec- 
tions previews the successive world-powers that 
were to be. The end is then precipitated by a 
shattering blow from a stone, "cut out without 
hands." By the same inspired interpretation, the 
"stone' ' becomes both a symbol of superhuman 
power, being ' 6 cut out without hands, ' ' and a type 
of Christ, the Ancient of Days, in His coming to 
the earth as a resistless Monarch, banishing all rule 
and authority. A portion of the whole passage 
reads thus: "Thou sawest till that a stone was 
cut out without hands, which smote the image upon 
his feet that were of iron and clay, and brake them 
to pieces. Then was the iron, the clay, the brass, 
the silver, and the gold, broken to pieces together, 
and became like the chaff of the summer thresh- 
ing-floor; and the wind carried them away, that 
no place was found for them: and the stone that 
smote the image became a greatimountain, and filled 
the whole earth" (Dan. 2:34-35). 

This being a divinely interpreted prophecy con- 
cerning the extent and ending of the present Gen- 
tile age, it should be noted that the stone (Christ) 
strikes the image (the world power) with one 
destructive blow, and at the time when it has be- 
come fully developed. The blow is struck on the 
part of the image which is last formed. The great 



32 



Satan 



image is thus instantly and violently broken to 
pieces and is even blown away 6 i like the chaff of 
the summer threshing-floor. ' ' In like manner, ac- 
cording to this prophecy, the whole Gentile rule 
will suddenly be broken and will vanish. 

It should also be noted from these symbols that 
the stone does not " become a mountain and fill 
the whole earth" until the great image has been 
scattered to dust. From this it is certain that 
there can be no development of the kingdom 
of Christ on the earth before the final breaking of 
the kingdoms of the earth. This same order is 
recognized throughout all prophecy. The King 
suddenly returns as lightning shining from one 
part of heaven to the other; Satan is violently 
seized and cast into prison; and a nation is born 
at once. The second Psalm connects the kingly 
reign of Christ — the time when He is set upon 
the holy hill of Zion — with the time when He shall 
claim the nations of the earth and " break them 
with a rod of iron and dash them in pieces as a 
potter's vessel." Also in Matt. 25: 31, "when He 
sits on the throne of his glory" the "blessed of 
the Father" are called to enter the kingdom pre- 
pared for them from the foundation of the world. 
And in Eev. 12 : 7-12, where Satan is cast out 
into the earth and the execution of his sentence is 
begun, the announcement is made by a loud voice 
in heaven, "Now is come salvation, and strength, 
and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his 



The Ages 



33 



Christ." There is no evidence of a gradual proc- 
ess here ; all is sudden and decisive. 

Again, this age is not the coming earthly king- 
dom for nowhere are the promised conditions of 
that kingdom now to be found. The Old Testa- 
ment prophecies contain long and detailed descrip- 
tions of that glorious time. God's ancient people 
shall become the chosen nation, restored to their 
own land; the enemy shall be banished; the earth 
shall be purified, and blossom as a rose. "The wolf 
also shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall 
lie down with the kid ; and the calf and the young 
lion and the fat-ling together ; and a little child shall 
lead them. And the cow and the bear shall feed; 
their young ones shall lie down together, and the 
lion shall eat straw like the ox. And the sucking 
child shall play on the hole of the asp, and the 
weaned child shall put his hand on the cockatrice 
den. They shall not hurt or destroy in all my 
holy mountain: for the earth shall be full of the 
knowledge of the Lord, as the waters cover the 
sea" (Isa. 11:6-9). "And in that day will I 
make a covenant for them with the beasts of the 
field, and with the fowls of heaven, and with the 
creeping things of the ground: and I will break 
the bow and the sword and the battle out of the 
earth, and will make them to lie down safely" (Hos. 
2:18). "And it shall come to pass in that day, 
that the mountains shall drop down new wine, 
and the hills shall flow with milk, and all the 
rivers of Judah shall flow with waters, and a f oun- 



34 



Satan 



tain shall come forth of the house of the Lord, and 
shall water the valley of Shittim" (Joel 3:18). 
"Sing and rejoice, 0 daughter of Zion: for, lo, I 
come, and I will dwell in the midst of thee, saith 
the Lord. And many nations shall be joined to 
the Lord in that day, and shall be my people : and 
I will dwell in the midst of thee, and thou shalt 
know that the Lord of hosts hath sent me unto 
thee" (Zech. 2: 10, 11). "Thus saith the Lord of 
hosts; in those days it shall come to pass, that ten 
men shall take hold out of all languages of the na- 
tion, even shall take hold of the skirt of him that 
is a Jew, saying, TVe will go with you : for we have 
heard that God is with you" (Zech. 8: 23). "For 
behold, I create new heavens and a new earth : and 
the former shall not be remembered, nor come into 
mind. But be ye glad and rejoice forever in that 
which I create: for behold, I create Jerusalem a 
rejoicing, and her people a joy. And I will re- 
joice in Jerusalem, and joy in my people: and 
the voice of weeping shall be no more heard in her, 
nor the voice of crying. There shall be no more 
thence an infant of days, nor an old man that hath 
not filled his days: for the child shall die an 
hundred years old; but the sinner being an hun- 
dred years old shall be accursed. And they shall 
build houses, and inhabit them; and they shall 
plant vineyards, and eat the fruit of them" (Isa. 
65: 17-21). "Then the eyes of the blind shall be 
opened, and the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped. 
Then shall the lame man leap as an hart, and the 
tongue of the dumb sing: for in the wilderness 



The Ages 



35 



shall waters break out, and streams in the desert" 
(Isa. 35:5, 6). "But this shall be the covenant 
that I will make with the house of Israel. After 
those days, saith the Lord, I will put my law in 
their inward parts, and write it in their hearts ; and 
will be their God and they shall be my people. 
And they shall teach no more every man his neigh- 
bor, and every man his brother, saying, Know the 
Lord: for they shall all know me, from the least 
of them unto the greatest of them, saith the Lord : 
for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remem- 
ber their sins no more" (Jer. 31:33, 34). "For 
unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: 
and the government shall be upon his shoulder: 
and his name shall be called Wonderful. Counsel- 
lor, The mighty God. The everlasting Father, The 
Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his govern- 
ment and peace there shall be no end. upon the 
throne of David, and upon the kingdom, to order 
it, and to establish it with judgment and with jus- 
tice from henceforth even forever. The zeal of 
the Lord of hosts will perform this" (Isa. 9:6, 
7). "'He shall be great, and shall be called the Son 
of the Highest : and the Lord God shall give unto 
him the throne of his father David; and he 
shall reign over the house of Jacob forever ; and of 
his kingdom there shall be no end" (Lk. 1:32, 
33). "And he shall set up an ensign for the na- 
tions, and shall assemble the outcasts of Israel, 
and gather together the dispersed of Judah from 
the four corners of the earth" (Isa. 11:12). 
"And he shall judge among many people, and 



36 



Satan 



rebuke strong nations afar off ; and they shall beat 
their swords into plowshares, and their spears into 
pruning hooks: nation shall not lift up a sword 
against nation, neither shall they learn war any 
more. But they shall sit every man under his vine 
and under his fig tree ; and none shall make them 
afraid: for the mouth of the Lord of hosts hath 
spoken it" (Micah 4:3, 4). 1 

Though blessings abound in the individual heart, 
and though the predicted conditions which are 
to precede the return of the King are everywhere 
present, the Messianic kingdom is not yet set up 
in the earth. It is still "the times of the Gentiles." 

i A more extended discussion of the plan and purpose of 
God in the ages will be found in the Author's book, "The 
Kingdom in History and Prophecy." 



CHAPTER III 



THE COURSE OF THIS AGE 

IT is necessary to distinguish between rightly 
dividing the "Word of Truth, and a critical at- 
titude toward that word ; the former being an im- 
portant duty in the believer's life, according to 2 
Tim. 2 : 15, while the latter may easily become a 
wicked and misleading display of unbelief and the 
wisdom of this world (1 Cor. 1:19). 

Personal interest in the Word of God usually be- 
gins with the first understanding of its real divi- 
sions; and no one is prepared to understand the 
providence of God who does not first come to know 
something of the purpose of God as marked off 
by these divisions. Especially is this necessary, as 
has been stated, for any clear understanding of 
the present age. 

Again, the power and force of the whole body of 
Scripture must depend, in a large measure, upon 
a belief in unfulfilled prophecy. Such a belief is 
not general, even among Christians. They believe 
that Christ came in the flesh, suffered, died, and 
rose again, because that is all now a matter of 
history ; but that belief is not greatly influenced by 
the fact that this was all exactly foretold by the 
prophets. Let those who are free to condemn the 

37 



38 



Satan 



pious Jew for not recognizing the fulfilment of 
prophecy in the first advent of Christ, beware lest 
they fail rightly to interpret the signs of these 
times, or look with positive unbelief upon the stu- 
pendous events that, according to prophecy, are im- 
minent to-day. It seems a sore test of faith to 
believe that which is predicted for the present age, 
though those predictions are being fulfilled in 
every particular. This prevailing attitude of un- 
belief usually arises from one of two errors : either 
Satan has been so estimated that it seems impos- 
sible for him to be the promoter of anything that 
is moral or good (of this error more will be said 
in the following chapters), or the exact meaning 
and purpose of this age has been disbelieved or mis- 
understood; and because of these conditions many 
enthusiastic Christians are found to be, not only 
working toward unscriptural and hopeless ends, but 
are actually contributing to the confusion and 
darkness that is prevalent to-day. 

The purpose and course of this age are not mat- 
ters of prediction alone. Almost two thousand 
years of history may be considered in the light of 
these predictions ; and while the age is not yet com- 
plete, and much that is reserved for the last days 
may be still future, enough of prophecy has now 
been fulfilled to indicate the certain fulfilment of 
all. 

Since there has been no universal conversion of 
men in even the most favored locality, it is evi- 
dent that, thus far, there has been a separating and 



The Course of this Age 



calling out of a few from the many ; and the divine 
purpose, as revealed in the Scriptures, which is to 
gather out a people from the Gentiles for His own 
name, has been verified. The blessing of God has 
been upon world-wide evangelism, rather than upon 
any fruitless attempts at world-wide conversion; 
for the individual or church that has become self- 
centered has, to that degree, sacrificed the power 
and blessing of the presence of Christ which was 
promised in Matt. 28:20: "Go ye therefore, and 
disciple all nations" — "Lo, I am with you alway, 
even unto the end of the age. ' ' 

Again, the formation of the kingdom has not 
been discernible in the present age. The Jews, to 
whom alone the promises of an earthly kingdom be- 
long, have continued a separate people under the 
unseen hand of God, without a country, or a vestige 
of national life. Certainly none of the predicted 
and necessary events accompanying the establish- 
ment of their kingdom have been experienced, nor 
is there any trace of its promised blessings. The 
fact that the Jews are now about to receive the title 
and possession of their native land, argues nothing 
for this age, more than that its end is very near, and 
that the way for their coming Messiah and na- 
tional glory is being prepared. Just so, the con- 
spicuous fact that all the marvelous present de- 
velopment of the resources of the earth has been 
limited to about the last sixtieth of the present 
history of the age may be evidence that the earth 's 
return to her former glory is already in prepara- 
tion. 



40 



Satan 



Belief in the revealed course of this age can be, 
therefore, verified by history as well as based on 
the predictions of Scripture. 

The present age differs from all others by rea- 
son of the admixture of opposing classes of people ; 
there being two divisions (not including the Jew 
as a nation) living and acting together, who are, 
nevertheless, removed from each other by a gulf 
that is immeasurable. This fact necessitates many 
careful distinctions and special injunctions which 
are peculiar to the age. 

The fact that these two widely differing classes 
are present together, and are to continue so to 
the end of the age, is the teaching of the seven 
parables in the thirteenth chapter of Matthew. 
Very much, therefore, depends upon the correct 
interpretation of these parables. Their meaning 
has been somewhat hidden by the use of the word 
"world" where reference is made to this period of 
time ; and the fact that the conditions described are 
true of this age only, has not been generally real- 
ized. 

These seven parables are but a description of the 
unfolding and development of these mixed ele- 
ments to be found in Christendom throughout this 
age. A similar prophecy, adding fuller historical 
details, is again proclaimed by Christ from the 
Glory, in the messages to the seven churches of 
Asia (Rev. 2 and 3). In these seven letters to 
organized existing churches, besides other appli- 
cations, is revealed an outline of the history of 
Christendom for this entire age. The first two 



The Course of this Age 



41 



parables of Matt. 13 are interpreted by Christ Him- 
self, and His interpretation of these sheds light 
on all that follows. 

Christ is the Sower in both the first and second 
of these parables, and the sowing is continued by 
His servants throughout this age. The field is the 
world of men, which reveals a marked change from 
the responsibility of the J ewish age which was then 
closing, and the results of the sowing are most defi- 
nite : not all the good seed sown comes to fruitage, 
or wheat, and the wheat and the tares grow to- 
gether until the end of the age. This interpreta- 
tion is not fanciful, for it is given by Christ Him- 
self; and the parables which follow must neces- 
sarily agree with these. The third and fourth are 
of the mustard seed and the measure of meal. 
Though commonly interpreted to mean the world- 
wide development of the church and the permeat- 
ing influence of the Gospel, in the light of the in- 
terpretation of the previous parables they can mean 
only the mixture of evil with that which began as 
small as a mustard seed and as pure as meal. No 
one can reasonably deny the fact that even the 
true believers have been influenced by that which 
leaven represents according to the Bible. The 
"leaven of the Pharisees" is formalism; the 
"leaven of the Sadducees' 7 is rationalism; and 
"the leaven of the Herodians" is worldliness. 
The fifth parable is of a treasure hid in a field, 
which pictures the earthly people in the world; 
while their real relation to Christ is covered until 
the accomplishment of that which is revealed in the 



42 



Satan 



sixth. Here the same man, the Lord Jesus Christ, 
sells all that He hath to purchase the Church, the 
pearl of great price, for He "loved the church, and 
gave himself for it" (Eph. 5:25): the pearl, by 
its formation and its power to reflect the light, be- 
ing a wonderful type of the Church in her present 
formation and future place in glory. Both the 
treasure and the pearl are found in the world, but 
do not include all of the world. The last parable 
but restates the truth that the mixture of the good 
and the evil is to continue to the end of the age. 

The highest ambition of the great missionary, 
Paul, was to be all things to all men that he might 
save some, not all. He found that his preaching 
was a savour of "death unto death" as well as of 
"life unto life" (2 Cor. 2:15. 16), and he clearly 
states in 2 Tim. 3: 13, "But evil men and seducers 
shall wax worse and worse, deceiving, and being 
deceived." Christ also predicted that the end of 
this age should be marked by such sin as provoked 
the judgment of the flood: "But as the days of 
Noe were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man 
be. For as in the days that were before the flood 
they were eating and drinking, marrying and giv- 
ing in marriage, until the day that Xoe entered into 
the ark, and knew not until the flood came, and 
took them all away ; so shall also the coming of the 
Son of man be" (Matt 24:37-39). 

This truth is often rejected as being pessimistic 
and disloyal to the progress of the world, yet has 
not the history of the age verified the teaching? 
And is not the coming glory nearer and more cer- 



The Course of this Age 



43 



tain when depending upon His promised return in 
resistless power and splendor, than when depend- 
ing upon any human progress the world has ever 
known? One is the majestic movement of the 
divine program in fulfilment of every covenant: 
while the other is the vain dream of the world in 
its ignorance and disregard for the testimony of 
God. 

Because of the presence of these two classes in 
the world during this age, there are two very dis- 
tinct lines of Scripture descriptive of them. One 
body of Scripture directly applies to and governs 
the " wheat" or heavenly people, and one applies 
to the " tares," the "children of the evil one." 
The marvelous revelation of the believer 's relation 
to Christ and the heavenlies, and his deliverance 
from any actual identification with this age, though > 
in it, will be the subject of another chapter. Only 
the relation of the unregenerate to this world and 
to Satan will be considered at this point. 

As it has pleased Satan to hide himself and all 
his projects from the unbelieving world, that which 
God has revealed in all faithfulness will be received 
only by those who have unquestioning confidence 
in His Word. 

According to the Scriptures, the relation of the 
unbelieving to Satan is far more vital than a mere 
pleasure-seeking allegiance. On two occasions 
Jesus spoke of the unsaved as the "children of 
Satan" (Matt. 13:38; John 8:44), and Paul so 
addressed Elymas, the sorcerer, according to Acts 
13 : 10. The same class is also twice called the 



44 



Satan 



"children of disobedience" (Eph. 2:2; Col. 3:6), 
and once it is called the "children of wrath" (Eph. 
2:3). 

It is evident that these are descriptions of the 
same class of people, since both terms are employed 
together in Eph. 5:6: "Let no man deceive you 
with vain words : for because of these things cometh 
the wrath of God upon the children of disobedi- 
ence." The exact cause of that wrath is stated in 
Eom. 1:18 (R. V.) : "For the wrath of God is 
revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and 
unrighteousness of men, who hinder the truth in 
unrighteousness." Therefore, the willful neglect 
and disregard of the testimony of God by the 
world has allied them with Satan, and placed them 
under the wrath of God, which must find its right- 
eous execution in due time if grace is not accepted. 

Again, Satan is revealed as directing and em- 
powering the children of disobedience: "And you 
hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses 
and sins; wherein in time past ye walked accord- 
ing to the course of this world [age], according 
to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit 
that now worketh in the children of disobedience" 
(Eph. 2:1, 2). The real force of this passage, 
also, is dependent upon the meaning of one word; 
the word "worketh" being the same as is used in 
Phil. 2 : 13, where God is said to impart His wisdom 
and strength to the believer : "For it is God which 
worketh in you both to will and to do of his good 
pleasure." Additional light may be had as to 
the reality of this relationship and the impartation 



The Course of this Age 



45 



of power which it implies from the following pass- 
ages in which the same Greek word is used. (The 
word in question is here italicised) : "And there 
are diversities of operations, but it is the same God 
that worketh all in ail" (1 Cor. 12:6); "But all 
these [gifts] worketh that one and the selfsame 
Spirit, dividing to every man severally as he will" 
(1 Cor. 12: 11) ; "And what is the exceeding great- 
ness of his power to usward who believe, according 
to the working of his mighty power, which he 
wrought in Christ when he raised him from the 
dead, and set him at his own right hand in the 
heavenlies" (Eph. 1:19-20): "For he that 
wrought effectually in Peter to the apostleship of 
the circumcision, the same was mighty in me toward 
the Gentiles" (Gal. 2:8); "^hereunto I also 
labor, striving according to his working, which 
worketh in me mightily" (Col. 1: 29) ; "Now unto 
him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above 
all that we ask or think, according to his power 
that worketh in us" (Eph. 3:20), It is also said 
in regard to the energizing power of Satan, using 
the same Greek word: "For the mystery of ini- 
quity doth already work 9 ' (2 Thes. 2:7); "For 
when we were in the flesh, the motions of sins, which 
were by the law, did work in our members to bring 
forth fruit unto death" (Rom. 7:5). In the last 
two passages quoted, the meaning is, like the pre- 
ceding passages, of an imparted energy, and is, 
therefore, most suggestive. 

It may then be concluded from the testimony of 
the Scriptures that Satan imparts his wisdom and 



4 6 



Satan 



strength to the unbelieving in the same manner as 
the power of God is imparted to the believer by the 
Holy Spirit. There is, however, no revelation as 
to the comparative degree of strength imparted by 
each. It should be further noted in this connection 
that this impartation of energizing power from 
Satan is not toward a limited few who might be 
said, because of some strange conduct, to be 
possessed of a demon ; but is the common condition 
of all who are yet unsaved, and are, therefore, still 
in the " power of darkness." 

The relation between the unregenerate and Satan 
is still more vital, according to the Greek text from 
which 1 J ohn 5 : 19 is translated. The Revised 
Version renders it, with marginal note, as follows : 
"We know that we are of God, and the whole 
world lieth in the evil one." In this passage there 
are two startling revelations in regard to this rela- 
tionship. First, the word "in" is the same as 
is used everywhere* of the believer when he is said to 
be in Christ, and in the case of the believer it sig- 
nifies an organic union to Christ. As a branch 
is in the vine, so the believer is in Christ. Though 
the word, when used of the unregenerate, cannot 
mean the same degree of organic life-relationship 
as exists between Christ and the believer, yet it 
does denote a deep relationship ; and Satan is the 
light, inspiration, and power, of all those whom he 
energizes. 

The second revelation in the passage is found in 
the word " lieth "— " The whole world lieth in the 
evil one." It might possibly be translated "lieth 



The Course of this Age 47 



asleep"; for its condition is not only a fixed posi- 
tion in the evil one, but is also a condition of un- 
consciousness. The saved ones are said to be in 
the Father's hand where no created thing can 
pluck them out (John 10: 29), and underneath are 
the everlasting arms : so the great mass of unsaved 
humanity are in the arms of Satan, and by his 
subtlety they are all unconscious of their position 
and relation. This is not at all strange. Even the 
believer has no present power to discern his glori- 
ous position and security in the Father's hand, 
apart from the assurance of the written Word. 
Much less, then, can the unbeliever come to realize 
his own position in the arms of Satan, when, un- 
der the direction of Satan, he gives no heed to 
the testimony of God. 

Still another passage should be noted in this con- 
nection. In 2 Cor. 4 : 3, 4, Satan is described as 
the god of this world, blinding the minds of the 
unbelieving. The whole passage is as follows: 
"And if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled in them 
that perish : in whom the god of this age hath 
blinded the thoughts of the unbelieving that the 
light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is 
the image of God should not dawn upon them"' (R. 
V. with margin). In this passage the unconscious 
condition is said to be the direct result of the power 
of Satan, and the blindness of their thoughts, it 
is stated, is along one particular line. To them 
the gospel is veiled: and the gospel here referred 
to is not the whole life story of Jesus, nor is it the 
"Gospel of the kingdom"; but the message of 



4 8 



Satan 



good news or favor — the exact terms of salvation 
by grace alone. This Paul here calls "my gospel/' 
for to him it was first unfolded in its complete- 
ness. 

The unregenerate are, then, unconscious of their 
position in the arms of Satan, and blind in their 
thoughts toward the gospel of mercy and grace, — 
their only hope for time or eternity. Satan, like a 
fond mother, is bending over those in his arms, 
breathing into their minds the quieting balm of a 
"universal fatherhood of God" and a "universal 
brotherhood of man"; suggesting their worthiness 
before God on the ground of their own moral char- 
acter and physical generation ; feeding their tend- 
ency to imitate the true faith by great humanita- 
rian undertakings and schemes for the reformation 
of individuals and the betterment of the social 
order. God's necessary requirements of regenera- 
tion are carefully set aside, and the blinded souls 
go on without hope, "having the understanding 
darkened, being alienated from the life of God 
through the ignorance that is in them, because of 
the blindness of their heart" (Eph. 4:18). How 
important, as a preparation for salvation, is the il- 
luminating work of the Spirit in conviction, by 
which He lifts the veil and opens the mind to a 
new vision of the redemption and glory that is in 
Christ! Without this God-given vision there can 
be no understanding of the way of life, nor any 
intelligent decision for Christ. 1 

i The divine part in the salvation of men is more fully 
presented in the Author's volume, "True Evangelism." 



CHAPTER IV 



THIS AGE AND THE SATANIC SYSTEM 

IT may also be concluded from the study of the 
ages that God has not been pleased to meet the 
presumptuous claims of Satan or of man by a sim- 
ple denial of those claims; He has chosen rather 
to bring everything to an experimental test. One 
advantage of this method is obvious: every mouth 
will be stopped, and the entire universe of beings 
will see clearly the utter folly of that which 
might have been arbitrarily denied. Man can no 
longer claim that his conscience is sufficient to 
guide him to his highest destiny; since the whole 
race, when standing on that basis before God, so 
utterly failed that their destruction by a flood was 
necessary. In like manner, by the history of a most 
favored people in the age preceding the first advent 
of Christ, man has demonstrated his own inability 
to do right or to keep the law. In the present age, 
man proves his separation from his Creator by his 
spirit of self-sufficiency and positive rejection of 
God. The present issue between God and man is 
one of whether man will accept God's estimate of 
him, abandon his hopeless self-struggle, and cast 
himself only on the grace of God which alone is 
sufficient to accomplish his needed transformation. 

49 



50 



Satan 



All divine love, wisdom, and power have wrought 
to provide salvation for man; and when this last 
and supreme effort of God has been rejected, the 
final pleading with man must be forever past, and 
the long delayed judgment upon sin be executed 
in righteousness. 

It has already been pointed out that Satan pur- 
posed in his heart to attempt all the functions of 
God; and, according to the Scriptures, that which 
he purposed is being permitted, to the extent of 
his ability, throughout the course of this age. 
Though his failure and defeat have been predicted 
from the beginning, it has pleased God to permit 
the Satanic ambition to come to its own destruction, 
and to demonstrate its own weakness and wicked 
folly. Xo other solution is given of the present 
power of Satan and the manifestations of his in- 
creasing authority yet to be experienced in the 
closing scenes of this age. 

His present authority is by no means complete. 
In 2 Thes. 2:7 K. V. it is stated: "The mystery 
of lawlessness doth already work : only there is one 
that restrainth now, until he be taken out of the 
way." This is believed to be a description of the 
work of the Holy Spirit as He restrains and hin- 
ders the development of the power of evil. Nor 
can Satan direct the affairs of that part, of human- 
ity who have been delivered from the power of 
darkness and are now united to Christ (unless they 
yield to his wishes), though they are in the world 
and their earth lives are mingled in much of its 
history. These saved ones are the antiseptic salt, 



This Age and the Satanic System 51 

hindering, like the Spirit who indwells them, the 
untimely dissolution of humanity. Again, Satan's 
dominion is limited in that " there is no power but 
of God: the powers that be are ordained of God" 
(Eom. 13:1). In this Scripture it is revealed 
that Satan, though in authority, is not wholly free 
from his Creator, and that any direction of the 
governments of the world which he exercises is by 
permission from God. Therefore, the efforts of 
Satan and man are not supreme, but must come to 
their predicted end when the eternal purpose of 
God has had its realization in the gathering out 
from both Jews and Gentiles a heavenly people for 
His own name. 

The whole race but recently trembled and suf- 
fered under the untold agony of a world-war, and 
yet there are still those who are confident that the 
sagacity of man is not only controlling iniquity, 
but is gradually developing an improved social or- 
der. Thus, man, in his vanity, assigns to him- 
self that which is of God alone, for all the elements 
of corruption and tribulation are latent in the 
world to-day, and the mighty effort of God is re- 
quired to stay its bursting into flame until the 
appointed time. Tribulation will, therefore, in- 
stantly begin when the hand of God is removed 
from the unregenerate and Satan-ruled humanity. 

Though under the restraining hand of God, 
Satan, according to the Scriptures, is now in au- 
thority over the unregenerate world, and the un- 
saved are unconsciously organized and federated 
under his leading. The fact that there is such a 



5* 



Satan 



federation, although stated in the Bible, is ob- 
scured in translation. In at least thirty important 
passages the English word ''world'' is again used 
without qualification. In these passages reference 
is made to a great evil system or order over which 
Satan is in authority, the word "world" referring 
to the world of men, their evil undertakings, ideals 
and federation. This federation includes all of 
the unsaved and fallen humanity; it has the co- 
operation of the fallen spirits, and is the union 
of all who are living and acting in independence 
of God. This Satanic system has its own ideals and 
principles which are in sharp contrast to the ideals 
and principles given to the redeemed, yet these 
two classes must mingle together as closely as the 
ties of human life can bring them. 

The whole truth concerning this federation is 
contained in those passages wherein the Satanic 
system is mentioned. 

First, Satan is its governing head. Three times 
Jesus referred to Satan as the prince of the Satanic 
system: "Now is the judgment of this world: 
now shall the prince of this world [Satanic sys- 
tem] be cast out" (John 12:31). "Hereafter I 
will not talk much with you : for the prince of this 
world [Satanic system] cometh, and hath nothing 
in me " ( John 14:30). "Of judgment, because the 
prince of this world [Satanic system] is judged" 
(John 16:11). Paul also refers to Satan as the 
"'prince of the power of the air" (Eph. 2:2), and 
again as the "god of this world [age]," (2 Cor. 
4:4). In the latter passage, mention is made of 



This Age and the Satanic System 53 



the age or period of time only, as in Eph. 6 : 12 : 
"For our wrestling is not against flesh and blood, 
but against the principalities, against the powers, 
against the age rulers of this darkness, against the 
spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenlies" 
(R. V.). 

An important revelation regarding the present 
authority of Satan over the world is given in the 
letter to the church in Pergamos. The ascended 
Lord said to this church: "I know thy works, 
and where thou dwellest, even where Satan's seat 
[throne] is." The church at Pergamos, being in 
the world, was under the fierce attack of the one 
whose rule is over the earth. 

From these Scriptures it must be conceded that 
the offer, which Satan made to Christ, of the then 
inhabited earth, was very real. The Scripture is 
as follows : "And the devil, taking him up into an 
high mountain, showed him the kingdoms of the 
world in a moment of time. And the devil said 
unto him, All this power will I give thee, and the 
glory of them: for that is delivered unto me: and 
to whomsoever I will I give it. If thou therefore 
wilt worship me, all shall be thine" (Lk 4:5-7). 
It has sometimes been held that the claim of pos- 
session of the kingdoms of the world was a lie, this 
being asserted on the ground that Satan is exposed 
in the Scriptures as a liar. Such a conclusion is im- 
possible for at least two reasons. The offer would 
have had no value had he not possessed the king- 
doms he offered; and any such false claim would 
have been immediately branded as a lie by the Son 



54 



Satan 



of God. In two additional passages. Satan is still 
further revealed as the recognized head of this 
world-system: " Because greater is he that is in 
you than he that is in the world [Satanic system] M 
(1 John 4:4). "And we know that we are of 
God, and the whole world [Satanic system] lieth 
in the wicked one" (1 John 5:19). 

Returning to Isaiah 14: 12-19. wherein Satan is 
described as "Lucifer, the son of the morning," 
and where the prophet in vision sees the whole 
career of Satan in retrospect, it will be seen that 
Satan holds a mighty grip upon the world. Here 
it is said of him that he was the one who "didst 
weaken the nations" and who "made the earth to 
tremble, that did shake kingdoms, that made the 
world as a wilderness, and destroyed the cities 
thereof; that opened not the house of his prison- 
ers." Every phrase in this remarkable passage is 
a revelation. Probably there is reference here both 
to the fall of man and to the authority of Satan 
in the earth, as well as to his attitude of resistance 
toward salvation which is by the grace of God, since 
it is said of Satan that he "'made the world as a 
wilderness ; he opened not the house of his prison- 
ers." 

Second, the Satanic system, according to the 
Scriptures, is wholly evil. This is a hard saying, 
and is usually denied by those who do not realize 
that all Scripture estimates are made from the 
standard of the holiness of God. and that the 
Satanic system, of itself and apart from the influ- 
ence of God and His people, has never improved 



This Age and the Satanic System 55 

their own moral condition, but that they are in- 
dividually under condemnation before God (John 
3:18); their borrowed interest in morality and 
charity being a poor commendation, in view of their 
fallen and Christ-rejecting attitude before God. 
They are also incapable of comprehending the 
standards of God, whose thoughts and ways are 
above their thoughts and ways as the heavens are 
higher than the earth (Isa. 55: 8, 9). The quality 
and incapacity of the fallen race is accurately de- 
scribed in Eom. 3 : 10-18 ; this description of them 
being as they appear before the holiness of God, 
stripped of ail externals : "As it is written, There 
is none righteous, no, not one : there is none that un- 
derstandeth, there is none that seeketh after God. 
They are all gone out of the way, they are to- 
gether become unprofitable; there is none that 
doeth good, no, not one. Their throat is an open 
sepulchre; with their tongues they have used de- 
ceit ; the poison of asps is under their lips : whose 
mouth is full of cursing and bitterness : their feet 
are swift to shed blood : destruction and misery are 
in their ways : and the way of peace have they not 
known: there is no fear of God before their eyes." 
So, fallen humanity federated under Satan will 
appear and act when the restraining hand of God 
is removed. Though the unsaved are moral, edu- 
cated, refined, or religious, they are not righteous 
in God's sight; for the charge here brought against 
them is that "there is none righteous, no, not one;" 
and all "have sinned and come short of the glory 
of God." The following Scriptures which directly 



56 



Satan 



refer to the character of the Satanic system are, 
therefore, the estimate of God upon those conditions 
which the world holds to be ideal. "Whereby are 
given unto us exceeding great and precious prom- 
ises: that by these ye might be partakers of the 
divine nature, having escaped the corruption that 
is in the world [Satanic system]" (2 Pet. 1:4). 
"For if after they have escaped the pollutions of 
the world [Satanic sy stern] through the knowledge 
of the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, they are 
again entangled therein, and overcome, the latter 
end is worse with them than the beginning' ' (2 Pet. 
2:20). "Pure religion and undefiled before God 
and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and 
widows in their affliction, and to keep himself un- 
spotted from the world [Satanic system]' 1 (Jas. 
1:27). "Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye 
not that the friendship of the world [Satanic sys- 
tem] is enmity with God? Whosoever therefore 
will be a friend of the world [Satanic system] is the 
enemy of God" (Jas. 4:4). "For whatsoever is 
born of God overcometh the world [Satanic sys- 
tem] 99 (1 John 5:4). "Hereafter I will not talk 
much with you: for the prince of this world 
[Satanic system] cometh, and hath nothing in me" 
(John 14: 30). "And every spirit that confesseth 
not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of 
God: and this is that spirit of antichrist, whereof 
ye have heard that it should come ; and even now 
already is it in the world [Satanic system]" (1 
John 4:3). In like manner the believer is said 
to have been "delivered from the present evil age" 



This Age and the Satanic System 57 



(Gal. 1:4), and '''delivered from the power of 
darkness" (Col. 1: 13), and is not to be conformed 
to this age (Bom. 12:2). 

These judgments are made from the view-point 
of the purity and holiness of God. In His sight 
the highest moral, educational, and religious ideals 
that the unregenerate world can comprehend are 
but a part of the confusion and darkness of this 
age when coupled with a rejection of His testimony 
in regard to His Son a^ their atoning Saviour. 

Thus, it is presented from the Scriptures that 
the present age and its great federation is, in God's 
sight, most unholy. 

Third. Satan is also set forth as having direct 
control of the physical well-being of his subjects, 
and at the same time as being able, by special 
permission, to gain access to the people of God: 
"Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of 
flesh and blood,, he [Christ] also himself likewise 
took part of the same : that through death he might 
destroy him that had the power of death, that is, 
the devil ?? (Heb. 2:14). "How God anointed 
Jesus of Xazareth with the Holy Ghost and with 
power: who went about doing good, and healing 
all them that were oppressed of the devil; for God 
was with him''' (Acts 10:38). "'And ought not 
this woman, being a daughter of Abraham, whom 
Satan hath bound, lo. these eighteen 7^ears. be 
loosed from this bond on the sabbath day?" (Lk. 
13:16). "Then Satan answered the Lord, and 
said, Doth Job fear God for naught? Hast not 
thou made an hedge about him, and about hi§ 



58 



Satan 



house, and about all that he hath on every side? 
Thou hast blessed the work of his hands, and his 
substance is increased in the land. But put forth 
thine hand now, and touch all that he hath, and 
he will curse thee to thy face. And the Lord 
said unto Satan, Behold, all that he hath is in 
thy power; only upon himself put not forth thine 
hand" (Job. 1:9-12). "Simon, Simon, behold, 
Satan asked to have you, that he might sift you 
as wheat : but I have made supplication for thee, 
that thy faith fail not; and do thou, when once 
thou hast turned again, establish thy brethren " 
(Lk. 22:31, 32 E. Y.). "And lest I should be 
exalted above measure through the abundance of 
the revelations, there was given to me a thorn in the 
flesh, the messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I 
should be exalted above measure" (2 Cor. 12:7). 

By these passages, the emphasis of the Scriptures 
on the power and authority of Satan in this age 
may be seen. And though the exact limits of his 
power under the restraining hand of God are not 
revealed, it would be unreasonable to deny that he 
is the god of this age, the head of the great world 
system; and, though all unknown to them, the 
director of the affairs of unregenerate men. 

Fourth, The works of the Satanic order are 
clearly outlined in several descriptive passages 
which also present that which is highest in ideal, 
and deepest in motive in the Satan energized mass 
of humanity. One passage, alone, contains the 
entire revelation: "For all that is in the world 
[Satanic system], the lust of the flesh, and the 



This Age and the Satanic System 59 



lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the 
Father, but is of the world [Satanic system]" 
(I John 2:16). The satisfaction of these same 
cravings was the temptation placed before Eve in 
the Garden: "And when the woman saw that 
the tree was good for food, and that it was pleas- 
ant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make 
one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did 
eat and gave also unto her husband with her; and 
he did eat" (Gen. 3:6). The real nature of these 
cravings is easily recognized as being wholly self- 
centered and without thought of God. 

All "wars and fightings" among men are only 
a natural result of the evil qualities of this great 
federation. Jesus said to Pilate: "My kingdom 
is not of this world [Satanic system] : if my king- 
dom were of this world [Satanic system], then 
would my servants fight, that I should not be de- 
livered unto the Jews : but now is my kingdom not 
from hence" (John 18 : 36) . It is a noticeable fact 
that the governments of the world depend upon 
physical power and a display of armament to 
maintain their position and authority, and the supe- 
rior law of love is not adapted to, or understood 
by, the elements that make up the Satanic order. 

Fifth, All earthly property is of the Satanic or- 
der, which property the believer may use, but must 
not abuse: "But whoso hath this world's good 
[Satanic system] , and seeth his brother have need, 
and shutteth up his bowels of compassion from him, 
how dwelleth the love of God in him?" (I John 
3:17). "And the cares of this world [age], and 



6o 



Satan 



the deceitfulness of riches, and the lust of other 
things entering in. choke the word, and it beeometh 
unfruitful' 3 (Mark 4:19). "But this I say, 
brethren, the time is short : it remainth. that both 
they that have wives be as though they had none ; 
and they that weep, as though they wept not ; and 
they that rejoice, as though they rejoiced not; 
and those that buy, as though they possessed not ; 
and they that use this world [Satanic system], as 
not abusing it' ? 1 Cor. 7:29-31). 

Sixth, The same world that crucified the Christ 
will also hate the saved one in whom He dwells : 
"Marvel not, my brethren, if the world [Satanic 
system] hate you ,J (1 John 3:13). 

Seventh, The impotency and limitations of the 
world-order are most evident. Its leader, though 
mighty, is inferior to Christ : "Ye are of God, lit- 
tle children, and have overcome them : because 
greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the 
world [Satanic system]" (1 John 4:4). Its 
knowledge and understanding are limited: "Be- 
hold what manner of love the Father hath bestowed 
upon us, that we should be called children of God ; 
and such we are. For this cause the world 
[Satanic system] knoweth us not. because it knew 
him not'' (1 John 3: 1, R. V.). "'Now the natural 
man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: 
for they are foolishness unto him: and he cannot 
know them, because they are spiritually judged. 
But he that is spiritual judgeth all things, and he 
himself is judged of no man" (1 Cor. 2:14, 15, 
R. V.). 



This Age and the Satanic System 61 

"There is none that understandeth, there is none 
that seeketh after God" (Rom. 3: 11). "And even 
if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled in them that 
perish : in whom the god of this age hath blinded 
the minds of the unbelieving, that the light of the 
gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of 
God, should not dawn upon them" (2 Cor. 4:3, 
4, R. V.). "They are of this world [Satanic sys- 
tem] : therefore speak they as of the world, and 
the world [Satanic system] heareth them" (1 John 
4:5, R. V.). All the sorrow of this order is with- 
out hope: "For godly sorrow worketh repentance 
unto salvation, a repentance which bringeth no re- 
gret : But the sorrow of the world [Satanic sys- 
tem] worketh death" (2 Cor. 7:10, R. V.). And, 
finally, the whole order is temporal and passing: 
"But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in 
the night ; in the which the heavens shall pass away 
with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with 
fervent heat, and the earth also and the works that 
are therein shall be burned up" (2 Pet. 3:10). 
"And the world [Satanic system] passeth away 
and the lust thereof : but he that doeth the will of 
God abideth forever" (1 John 2: 17). 



CHAPTER V 



THE SATANIC HOST 

IN one of His controversies with the Pharisees 
(Matt. 12:22-30) Christ inferred that Satan is 
a king, and as such is in authority over a kingdom 
(see also Rev. 2:13, R. V.). This particular dis- 
cussion was in regard to the fact that Christ had 
healed one "possessed with a demon, blind and 
dumb." The Pharisees claimed that the demon 
had been cast out by Beelzebub the prince of de- 
mons, or by the one whom Jesus, later in the nar- 
rative, calls Satan. The passage is as follows: 
"Then was brought unto him one possessed with a 
devil, blind, and dumb ; and he healed him, inso- 
much that the blind and dumb both spake and saw. 
And all the people were amazed, and said, Is not 
this the son of David? But when the Pharisees 
heard it, they said, This fellow doth not cast out 
devils, but by Beelzebub the prince of the devils. 
And Jesus knew their thoughts, and said unto them, 
Every kingdom divided against itself is brought 
to desolation; and every city or house divided 
against itself shall not stand : and if Satan cast out 
Satan, he is divided against himself ; how shall then 
his kingdom stand? And if I by Beelzebub cast 
out devils, by whom do your children cast them 

62 



The Satanic Host 



63 



out ? therefore they shall be your judges. But if I 
cast out devils by the Spirit of God, then the king- 
dom of God has come unto you. Or else how can 
one enter into a strong man's house, and spoil his 
goods, except he first bind the strong man? and 
then he will spoil his house. He that is not with 
me is against me; and he that gathereth not with 
me scattereth abroad.'' 

By this Scripture it may be seen that a portion 
of the kingdom of Satan is a host of bodiless spirits. 
Although their origin cannot be definitely traced, 
it is probable that they were created as subjects of 
Satan in the primal glory, as he, also, was created 
as their prince and king. Satan, being in author- 
ity over these beings, doubtless drew them after 
him in his sinful attempt to thrust himself into 
the place of God. 

Long before man was created, sin began with 
"Lucifer, the son of the morning," and extended to 
a multitude of angels concerning whom it is said 
that they ' ' kept not their first estate": and, "God 
spared not the angels that sinned, but cast them 
down to hell, and delivered them into chains of 
darkness, to be reserved unto judgment" (John 
8:44; 2 Pet. 2:4; Jude 6). Another company of 
fallen angels became demons and are still free to 
serve in the projects of Satan. 

It would seem that Satan is in authority over 
two distinct orders of beings — the Satanic order of 
the earth, and the Satanic host of the air. It is 
clear that he secured the scepter of government in 
the earth from Adam, by right of conquest : while 



64 



Satan 



his authority over the Satanic host is undoubtedly 
that which he has been permitted to retain from his 
creation. If Satan has thus kept his authority 
over these spirits from the beginning, it follows 
that they are in full sympathy with him and render 
him willing service. The following Scriptures em- 
phasize the authority of Satan over these beings: 
"And if Satan cast out Satan, how then shall his 
kingdom stand ? ' ' (Matt. 12 : 26) . " Then shall he 
say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from 
me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for 
the devil and his angels" (Matt. 25 : 41). 

The reality and personality of this host of evil 
spirits is taught in the Bible, and a careful study 
of the numerous passages in which they are men- 
tioned will reveal how God has provided complete 
instruction in His Word concerning the facts and 
forces which constantly confront the believer. 

These spirits are usually referred to in both the 
Authorized and Revised Versions of the New Testa- 
ment as " devils," but the word might better have 
been translated "demons." 

In considering the service these beings render to 
Satan, it is important to distinguish between demon 
possession or control, and demon influence. In the 
one case the body is entered and a dominating con- 
trol is gained: while in the other case a warfare 
from without is carried on by suggestion, tempta- 
tion, and influence. 

Investigation of the Scriptures in regard to de- 
mon possession reveals: 

First: That this host is made up of bodiless 



The Satanic Host 



65 



spirits only. The following Scriptures verify this 
statement: "When the unclean spirit is gone out 
of a man, he walketh through dry places, seeking 
rest, and findeth none. Then he saith, I will re- 
turn into my house from whence I came out; and 
when he is come, he findeth it empty, swept, and 
garnished. Then goeth he, and taketh with him- 
self seven other spirits more wicked than himself, 
and they enter in and dwell there : and the last 
state of that man is worse than the first 7 ' (Matt. 
12:43-45). "And all the devils besought him, 
saying, Send us into the swine, that we may enter 
into them" (Mark 5: 12). 

Second : They are, however, not only seeking to 
enter the bodies of either mortals or beasts, for 
their power seems to be in some measure dependent 
upon such embodiment; but they are constantly 
seen to be thus embodied, according to the New 
Testament. A few of these passages are given 
here: "When the even was come, they brought 
unto him many that were possessed with devils : and 
he cast out the spirits with his word, and healed all 
that were sick" (Matt. 8:16). "As they went 
out, behold, they brought to him a dumb man pos- 
sessed with a devil. And when the devil was cast 
out, the dumb spake" (Matt. 9:32, 33). "And 
the people with one accord gave heed unto those 
things which Philip spake, hearing and seeing the 
miracles which he did. For unclean spirits, cry- 
ing with loud voice, came out of many that were 
possessed with them : and many taken with palsies, 
and that were lame, were healed" (Acts 8: 6, 7). 



66 



Satan 



6 'And it came to pass, as we went to prayer, a cer- 
tain damsel possessed with a spirit of divination 
met us, which brought her masters much gain by 
soothsaying" (Acts 16:16). "And they came 
over unto the other side of the sea, into the country 
of the Gadarenes. And when he was come out of 
the ship, immediately there met him out of the 
tombs, a man with an unclean spirit, who had his 
dwelling among the tombs ; and no man could bind 
him, no, not with chains : because that he had been 
often bound with fetters and chains, and the chains 
had been plucked asunder by him, and the fetters 
broken in pieces : neither could any man tame him. 
And always, night and day, he was in the moun- 
tains, and in the tombs, crying, and cutting him- 
self with stones. But when he saw Jesus afar off, 
he ran and worshipped him, and cried with a loud 
voice, and said, What have I to do with thee, J esus, 
thou Son of the most high God? I adjure thee by 
God, that thou torment me not. For he said unto 
him, Come out of the man, thou unclean spirit. 
And he asked him, What is thy name? And he 
answered, saying, My name is Legion: for we 
are many. And he besought him much that he 
would not send them away out of the country. 
Now there was nigh unto the mountains a great 
herd of swine feeding. And all the devils besought 
him, saying, send us into the swine, that we may 
enter into them. And forthwith Jesus gave them 
leave. And the unclean spirits went out, and en- 
tered into the swine: and the herd ran violently 
down a steep place into the sea, (they were about 



The Satanic Host 



two thousand ;) and were choked in the sea" (Mark 
5:1-13). 

Third: They are wicked, unclean, and vicious. 
Many passages might be quoted in proof of this 
statement. "And when he was come to the other 
side into the country of the Gergesenes, there met 
him two possessed with devils, coming out of the 
tombs, exceeding fierce, so that no man might pass 
by that way" (Matt. 8:28). "And when he had 
called unto him his twelve disciples, he gave them 
power against unclean spirits, to cast them out, and 
to heal all manner of sickness and all manner of 
disease'' (Matt. 10:1). "There met him out of 
the tombs a man with an unclean spirit, who had 
his dwelling among the tombs; and no man could 
bind him, no, not with chains : because that he had 
been often bound with fetters and chains, and the 
chains had been plucked asunder by him, and the 
fetters broken in pieces : neither could any man 
tame him. And always, night and day, he was in 
the mountains, and in the tombs, crying, and cut- 
ting himself with stones" (Mark 5:2-5). "And 
they brought him unto him : and when he saw him, 
straightway the spirit tare him ; and he fell on the 
ground, and wallowed foaming" (Mark 9 : 20). 

It might be added that there seem to be degrees 
of wickedness represented by these spirits : for it is 
stated in Matt. 12 : 43-45 that the demon, return- 
ing to his house, "taketh with himself seven other 
spirits more wicked than himself. ' ' 

The question is often raised whether demon pos- 
session obtains at the present time. Although the 



68 



Satan 



authentic records of such, control are almost wholly 
limited to the three years of the public ministry of 
Jesus, it is incredible that demon possession did 
not exist before that time, or has not existed since. 
In this connection it should be remembered that 
these beings are not only intelligent themselves, 
but that they are directly governed and ordered by 
Satan, whose wisdom and cunning are so clearly set 
forth in the Scriptures. It is reasonable to con- 
clude that they, like their monarch, are adapting 
the manner of their activity to the enlightenment 
of the age and locality. It is evident that they 
are not now less inclined than before to enter and 
dominate a body. Demon possession in the present 
time is probably often unsuspected because of the 
generally unrecognized fact that demons are capa- 
ble of inspiring a moral and exemplary life, as well 
as of appearing as the dominating spirit of a spir- 
itist medium, or through the grosser manifesta- 
tions that are recorded by missionaries concerning 
conditions which they observe in heathen lands. 
These demons, too, like their king, will appear as 
"angels of light " as well as "roaring lions," when 
by the former impersonation they can more per- 
fectly further the stupendous undertakings of Sa- 
tan in his warfare against the work of God. 

Demon influence, like the activity of Satan, is 
prompted by two motives : both to hinder the pur- 
pose of God for humanity, and to extend the au- 
thority of Satan. They, therefore, at the command 
of their king, willingly cooperate in all his God- 
dishonoring undertakings. Their influence m ex- 



The Satanic Host 



6 9 



ercised both to mislead the unsaved and to wage an 
unceasing warfare against the believer (Eph. 
6:12). 

Their motive is suggested in what is revealed by 
their knowledge of the authority and deity of 
Christ, as well as by what they know of their eter- 
nal doom. The following passages are important 
in this connection: "And behold, they cried out, 
saying, What have we to do with thee, Jesus, thou 
Son of God? art thou come hither to torment us 
before the time ? ' ' (Matt. 8 : 29 ) . " And there was 
in their synagogue a man with an unclean spirit; 
and he cried out, saying, Let us alone; what have 
we to do with thee, thou Jesus of Nazareth? Art 
thou come to destroy us? I know thee who thou 
art, the Holy One of God. And Jesus rebuked him, 
saying, Hold thy peace, and come out of him" 
(Mark 1:23-25). "And the evil spirit answered 
and said, J esus I know, and Paul I know ; but who 
are ye?" (Acts 19:15). "Thou believest that 
there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also 
believe, and tremble" (Jas. 2: 19). 

Of the methods of demons in the latter days of 
the age, the Scriptures bear special testimony. 
They will cover their lies with the empty form of 
religion, and by every means make them to appear 
as the truth, that they may rob both the saved and 
the unsaved of their hope in Christ: "Now the 
Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times 
some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to 
seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils; speaking 
lies in hypocrisy; having their conscience seared 



70 



Satan 



with a hot iron" (1 Tim. 4:1, 2). A departure 
from the true faith is thus predicted to be the evi- 
dence of the influence of demons in the last days. 
This is not a reference to an individual Christian 
turning from his own personal faith. It is none 
other than the great apostasy that must precede 
the "Day of the Lord" according to 2 Thes. 2 : 2, 3. 

The believer's victory in this unceasing warfare 
is treated at length in another chapter. It may 
be noted here, however, that the Lord said to His 
followers, "Howbeit this kind goeth not out but by 
prayer and fasting" (Matt. 17 : 21) ; but since the 
beginning of this dispensation, which is character- 
ized by the presence of the Spirit in every believer, 
the victory is through the power of the indwelling 
Spirit: "Because greater is he that is in you, than 
he that is in the world" (1 John 4:4). Such is 
the whole armor of God: "Wherefore take unto 
you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able 
to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, 
to stand" (Eph. 6:13). 

Satan, though proposing to supersede the Al- 
mighty, is not Omnipotent; but his power and the 
extent of his activity are immeasurably increased 
by the co-operation of his host of demons. Satan 
is not Omniscient; yet his knowledge is greatly ex- 
tended by the combined wisdom and observation 
of his sympathetic subjects. Satan is not Om- 
nipresent; but he is able to keep up an unceasing 
activity in every locality by the loyal obedience of 
the Satanic host, who are so numerous as to be 
called "Legion." 



CHAPTER VI 
Satan's motive 

ACCORDING to the Scriptures, the supreme 
motive of Satan is his purpose to become like 
the Most High and, though that purpose was 
formed even before the age of man, it has been his 
constant actuating motive from that time until now. 
It is also the teaching of the Scriptures that Satan 
is in especial authority in the present age ; he being 
permitted the exercise of his own power in order 
that he, and all his followers, may make their own 
final demonstration to the whole universe of the 
utter folly of their claims and of their abject help- 
lessness when wholly independent of their Creator. 
This is definitely predicted in 2 Tim. 3 : 9 as the 
final outcome of the attitude of the world in its 
independence toward God: "They shall proceed 
no further: for their folly shall be manifest unto 
all men." 

It has also been stated that the unsurpassed 
tribulation only awaits the withdrawal of the re- 
straining hand of God, for all the required elements 
for such a condition are latent in the unregenerate 
heart (Rom. 3:9-18). In this period of tribula- 
tion the greatest power of Satan will be exercised, 
and the wickedness of man will be revealed in his 
attempt to live in complete separation from God. 

7i 



72 



Satan 



Even fallen humanity would not, at first, ac- 
knowledge Satan as its object of worship and fed- 
eral head ; and such a condition of society wherein 
Satan will be received as supreme, as he will be in 
the person of the first Beast of Rev. 13, must, there- 
fore, be developed by increasing irreverence and 
lawlessness toward God. Thus it has been neces- 
sary for Satan to conceal his person and projects 
from the very people over whom he is in authority 
and in whom he is the energizing power. For this 
reason this class of humanity believes least in his 
reality, and ignorantly rejects its real leader as 
being a mythical person. When he is worshipped, 
it is through some idol as a medium, or through his 
own impersonation of Jehovah; and when he rules, 
it is by what seems to be the voice of a king, or the 
voice of the people. However, the appalling ir- 
reverence of the world to-day is the sure prepara- 
tion for the forthcoming direct manifestation of 
Satan, as predicted in Dan 9 ; 2 Thes. 2 ; and Rev. 
13. 

Satan's policy of deception is described as ex- 
tending to all the nations, and to the whole world : 
"Even him, whose coming is after the working of 
Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders, 
and with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in 
them that perish ; because they received not the love 
of the truth, that they might be saved' 9 (2 Thes. 2 : 
9, 10). "And the great dragon was cast out, that 
old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which de- 
ceiveth the whole world" (Rev. 12:9). "And he 
laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is 



Satan's Motive 



73 



the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand 
years, and cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut 
him up, and set a seal upon him, that he should 
deceive the nations no more till the thousand years 
should be fulfilled : and after that he must be loosed 
a little season" (Rev. 20:2, 3). "And when the 
thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed 
out of his prison, and shall go out to deceive the 
nations which are in the four quarters of the earth" 
(Rev. 20: 7, 8). He who was the measure of per- 
fection, full of beauty and wisdom, he who made 
the earth to tremble, who shook kingdoms, has been 
wulling to be ridiculed by the world as a being 
without reality, that he might in the end realize his 
own deepest desire. 

Again, his own subjects have strangely neglected 
the plain teachings of Scripture concerning his real 
power and authority. To them he has been an 
imaginary fiend, delighting only in the torment of 
unfortunate souls, making his home in hell, and 
himself the impersonation of all that is cruel and 
vile: when, on the contrary, he is real, and is the 
very embodiment of the highest ideals that the un- 
regenerate world has received, for he is the inspirer 
of all those ideals. With his own he is not at 
enmity, and he, like the most refined of the world, 
is not in sympathy with the grosser forms of their 
sin. He would, hinder those manifestations of evil | 
if he could. And certainly he does not prompt 
them, for they are the natural fruit of an unre- 
strained fallen nature, according to James 1 : 14, 15 : 
"But every man is tempted, when he is drawn 



74 



Satan 



away of his own lust, and enticed. Then when lust 
hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin : and sin. when 
it is finished, bringeth forth death." "For from 
within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil 
thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, thefts, 
covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lasciviousness. an 
evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness : all these 
evil things come from within, and defile the man" 
(Mk. 7:21-23). The dying drunkard, the fallen 
woman, and the suffering of the innocent are more 
likely the evidences of Satan's failure rather than 
the realization of his purpose. 

His own terrible sin before God would not be 
condemned in the eyes of the world, for it is that 
which they most idealize and praise. In his sin he 
aspired to that which is highest, and proposed to 
realize his ideal by his own self-sufficiency and 
strength. True, he has lowered his Creator, in his 
own mind, to a level where he supposes himself to 
be in legitimate competition with Him, both for 
authority over other beings and for their worship. 
Yet this unholy ambition and disregard for the 
Creator is a most commendable thing according to 
the standards of the Satanic order. In the lan- 
guage of the world, Satan is simply "self made" 
and every element of his attitude toward his Cre- 
ator is, as a principle of life, both commended and 
practiced by the world. 

Though hiding himself, Satan has had the satis- 
faction, under limitations, of governing the affairs 
of men; and the delight, to a large extent, of re- 
ceiving their worship. The greatest care was taken 



Satan's Motive 



75. 



in the law governing God 's ancient people that they 
should not offer their sacrifices unto devils, vrhich 
was the practice of surrounding nations (Lev. 17: 
7; Deut. 32:17). In violation of these special 
laws, Rehoboara instituted special priests for the 
devils (2 Chron. 11:15), while the worship of 
devils, according to the Xew Testament, is to con- 
tinue throughout the age: '"'But this I say, that 
the things which the Gentiles sacrifice, they sacri- 
fice to devils, and not to God : and I would not that 
ye should have fellowship with devils. Ye cannot 
drink the cup of the Lord, and the cup of devils : 
ye cannot be partakers of the Lord's table and the 
table of devils'' (1 Cor. 10:20, 21). "And the 
rest of the men that were not killed by these plagues 
yet repented not of the works of their hands, that 
they should not worship devils, and idols of gold, 
and silver, and brass, and stone, and of wood : 
which neither can see, nor hear, nor walk'' (Rev. 
9:20). 

Again Satan's ambition is leading him to make 
this age of his special opportunity as nearly per- 
fect as his wisdom and power will permit. And 
in this connection it may be noted that Satan's am- 
bition was not to become a fiend, but rather to be- 
come like the Alost High. He will, therefore, strive | 
for all that is moral and good : yet at the same time 
do all in his power to draw men from their natural 
reverence of God, in order that, in due time, they 
may acknowledge himself without fear. The 
Satanic ideal of this age is, then, an improved social j 
order, a moral and cultured people who are devout 



7 6 



Satan 



worshippers of himself, though for the present they 
may imagine that they are worshipping Jehovah 
through their empty religious forms and cere- 
monies, while they are really in a state of God- 
dishonoring unbelief, and all their thoughts are 
energized by Satan alone. The Satanic message 
for this age will be reformation and self-develop- 
ment, while the message of God is regeneration by 
the power of the Spirit. 

Satan, in his imitation of the Most High, is also 
working toward a universal kingdom of morality 
and peace upon earth, which will be temporarily 
realized under the reign of the Beast (Rev. 13). 
The difference between Satan's ideal and the pur- 
pose of God, apart from the utter folly of the one 
and the glorious certainty of the other, is the differ- 
ence of both method and time. According to the 
Satanic program, the present order of society, with 
Satan on the throne, is to be developed into an ideal 
brotherhood, in which all men will practice that 
which is moral and good. According to the Word 
of God, this is an evil age of darkness and pollu- 
tion, in which the folly of Satan and man is to be 
proven, and out of which God is to gather the heav- 
enly people for His own name. The kingdom of 
righteousness is then to follow, being ushered in by 
Christ-enthroning and Satan-dethroning events. 
There will then be a perfect humanity and social 
order for all shall know the Lord from the least 
unto the greatest and righteousness and peace shall 
cover the earth as the waters cover the face of the 
deep. 



Satan's Motive 77 

The master passion of Satan leads him, not only 
to strive for the success of his own projects, but also 
to wage an unceasing warfare against Jehovah. 
These two lines of activity are inseparable ; for he 
cannot establish and develop his own kingdom, and 
at the same time permit his subjects to be translated 
out of his kingdom into another, especially when 
they remain in the midst as a living power and tes- 
timony against him. Nor can he reasonably allow 
the accomplishment of any of the projects of God, 
for it is predicted that at the completion of these 
his own doom will be at hand. The present time is, 
therefore, to Satan the time of struggle for his own 
existence, as well as for the realization of all that 
has been his ambition in the ages past. The war- 
fare is no mere passing amusement for him, for he, 
in desperation, is facing a terrible judgment if he 
cannot succeed in his purpose. 

The spectacle now presented to the universe is 
that of a mighty celestial being, the god of the 
earth, who is by creation the full measure of per- 
fection both in wisdom and beauty, making his last 
and most desperate warfare, not only to realize his 
own ambition but also to thwart every movement 
of the Most High ; knowing that in failure there is 
no ground for mercy, but only the final destruction 
that has been so long predicted. He knew when 
he formed this God-dishonoring purpose that it 
must either wholly succeed or he himself fall into 
eternal judgment. On the other side of the con- 
flict there is perfect calmness and certainty as to 
the end, for the judgment and sentence are past; 



7 8 



Satan 



yet every true believer is implored to be instant in 
season and out of season in the present projects 
of grace, that the sufferings and separations of 
earth may be cut short in righteousness. 

Well may believers study their own motives in 
service in view of these vastly differing programs ; 
and question whether there is in them a humble 
willingness to co-operate in the present purpose 
of God in preparing the Bride for the returning 
King. Or whether, on the other hand, they have 
carelessly fallen in with the Satanic ideal which re- 
jects the coming kingdom of Christ by an unholy 
attempt to establish the present kingdom of Satan. 

The program of Satan, which the world calls 
"optimistic," rests on the Satanic purpose of a re- 
formed society: in contrast, the program of God, 
which is called ' ' pessimistic, " in that it discredits 
this age, rests upon the infinite wisdom, love and 
power of God, and is so certain and near that the 
believer is taught to watch, wait, and be ready for 
the first divine movement toward this glorious end. 

The motive of Satan is four times revealed, and 
these disclosures stand out like mile-stones in his 
career. 

First, his master passion is given in the record 
of his first sin. His secret purpose, it is stated, 
was to be "like the Most High" (Isa. 14: 14). 

Second, when he met the first Adam in the Gar- 
den and there recommended his own unholy ideal 
in the words, "Ye shall be as gods" (Gen. 3:5). 

Third, when he met the Last Adam in the wil- 
derness he again manifests his desire to take the 



Satan's Motive 



79 



place of God. Well lie knew that Christ is very 
God; yet he said to Him, "If thou wilt worship 
me" (Lk. 4:7). 

Fourth, his motive is finally revealed in the as- 
sumption of the Man of Sin of whom it is pre- 
dicted that he "as God sitteth in the temple of 
God, setting himself forth as God" (2 Thes. 2:4, 
R, V.). 



CHAPTER VII 
satan's methods 

THE two great activities of Satan, already men- 
tioned, are referred to in 2 Thes. 2 : 4, in con- 
nection with the Man of Sin who will be Satan's 
last and greatest manifestation. This being is 
spoken of as he "who opposeth and exalteth him- 
self above all that is called God, or that is wor- 
shipped." These two activities are inseparable in 
that, while Satan is seeking to exalt himself above 
all that is called God or that is worshipped, he can 
keep his subjects or prolong his own existence only 
by an unceasing warfare in which he opposes him- 
self against God. "Whether Satan now believes that 
he may yet succeed in spite of the decree of the 
cross and the evident superior power of God, is not 
revealed. 

It is still further disclosed that the enmity of 
Satan is not only toward the person of God from 
whom he has everything to fear, but also toward 
every true child of God. Too much emphasis can- 
not be placed on this fact. Satan has no contro- 
versy or warfare with his own unregenerate peo- 
ple, but there is abundant Scripture to prove that 
he makes unceasing effort to mar the life and serv- 
ice of believers. The motive for this effort is ail- 
So 



Satan's Methods 



81 



sufficient: they have "partaken of the divine na- 
ture' 9 (2 Pet. 1:4), and afford, therefore, a possi- 
ble opportunity for Satan to thrust his fiery darts 
at the divine Person. Thus the believer becomes a 
medium of connection between the divine Person 
and the Satanic order, for God literally loves the 
unsaved through the believer (Rom. 5:5) : and on 
the other hand, the prince of the Satanic system, 
as well as many of his subjects, is seeking an op- 
portunity for a thrust through the believer at the 
person of God. Several important passages on the 
latter point may here be noted: "These things 
have I spoken unto you, that in me ye might have 
peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation : but 
be of good cheer; I have overcome the world" 
(John 16 : 33). "Yea, and all that will live godly 
in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution' ' (2 Tim. 
3:12). "Marvel not, my brethren, if the world 
hate you" (1 John 3 : 13). "Casting all your care 
upon him; for he careth for you. Be sober, be 
vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a 
roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may 
devour: whom resist steadfast in the faith, know- 
ing that the same afflictions are accomplished in 
your brethren that are in the world" (1 Pet. 5: 
7-9). "Finally, my brethren, be strong in the 
Lord, and in the power of his might. Put on the 
whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand 
against the wiles [literally, artifices] of the devil. 
For our wrestling is not against flesh and blood, 
but against the principalities, against the powers, 
against the world rulers of this darkness, against 



82 



Satan 



the spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly 
places" (Eph. 6: 10-12, E. V.). 

The teaching of these passages clearly indicates 
the Satanic enmity toward the believer, and the be- 
liever's utter helplessness apart from the divine 
sufficiency. They also reveal a degree of enmity 
which would result in the believer's life being 
crushed out, were it not for the evident answer to 
the prayer of Jesus: "I pray not that thou 
shouldest take them from the world, but that thou 
shouldest keep them from the evil one" (John 17: 
15, R. V.). Certainly there is abundant reason for 
the believer to expect the fiercest opposition from 
Satan and his host in all his life and service, and 
faith alone insures his victory over the world. 

The believer is also the object of the Satanic at- 
tack because of the fact that unto the child of God 
is committed the great ministry of reconciliation; 
that by his testimony both in life and word, and by 
his prayers, the facts of redemption may be given 
to the world. If Satan can cripple the believer's 
service he accomplishes much in resisting the pres- 
ent purpose of God. No other explanation is ade- 
quate for the dark pages of church history, the ap- 
palling failure of the church in world-wide evangel- 
ism, or her present sectarian divisions and selfish 
indifference. 

This blighting Satanic opposition may be detected 
in every effort for the salvation of the lost. It may 
be seen in the fact that no personal appeal is ever 
made to the vast majority even in this favored 
land ; moreover, when an appeal is made, it is, easily 



Satan's Methods 83 



distracted or diverted into the discussion of unim- 
portant themes. The faithful pastor or evangelist 
is most sorely assailed, every device of Satan being 
used to distort the one all-important message of 
grace into something which is not vital. The evan- 
gelist's call for decisions is often cumbered with 
that which is misleading or is a positive misstate- 
ment of the terms of salvation ; thus the appeal is 
lost and the whole effort fails. The action of Satan 
may also be detected in the fact that a humble mes- 
senger who is loyal to Christ and His salvation by 
grace alone, will be almost unheeded at the present 
time : while the vast throng will be found support- 
ing that which is religious only in its externals, but 
which is in reality a gospel of morality and is a 
subtle denial of the redemption that is in Christ. 

Again, the opposing power of Satan may be seen 
in the matter of Christian giving. Millions are 
given without solicitation for education, culture, 
and humanity's physical comfort, but real world- 
wide evangelization must ever drag on with its 
shameful limitations and debts. This warfare of 
Satan is even more noticeable in the believer's 
prayer life. This, being his place of greatest use- 
fulness and power, is subject to the severest con- 
flict. In this connection it may be stated safely 
that there is comparatively but little prevailing 
prayer to-day, yet the way is open and the prom- 
ises are sure. If the believer cannot be beguiled 
into indifference or a denial of Christ, he is often 
tempted to place an undue emphasis upon some 
minor truth, and, in partial blindness, to sacrifice 



8 4 



Satan 



his whole influence for good through the apparent 
unbalance of his testimony. 

Satan's warfare against the purpose of God is 
still more evident in his direct hindering of the 
unsaved. Not only are they constantly blinded to 
the Gospel, but, when the Spirit would draw them, 
their minds are often filled with strange fears and 
distorted visions. Their inability to cast them- 
selves upon Christ is a mystery to themselves, and 
nothing but the direct illuminating power of the 
Spirit in conviction can open their eyes and deliver 
them from their gross darkness. 

Satan has always adapted his methods to the 
times and conditions. If attention has been gained, 
a complete denial of the truth has been made; or, 
when some recognition of the truth is demanded, it 
has been granted on the condition that that which 
is vital in redemption should be omitted. 

This partial recognition of the truth is required 
by the world to-day. For, while the direct result 
of the believer's testimony to the Satanic system 
has been toward the gathering out of the Bride, 
there has been an indirect influence of this testi- 
mony upon the world which has led them to see 
that all that is good in their own ideals has been 
already stated in the Bible and exemplified in the 
life of Jesus. Moreover, they have heard that 
every principle of humanitarian sympathy or right- 
eous government has been revealed in the Scrip- 
tures of Truth. Thus there has grown a more or 
less popular appreciation of the value of these 
moral precepts of the Scriptures and of the, exam- 



Satan's Methods 85 



pie of Christ. This condition has prevailed to such 
a degree that any new system or doctrine which se- 
cures a hearing to-day must base its claim upon the 
Bible, and include, to some extent, the Person and 
teachings of Jesus. The fact that the world has 
thus partly acknowledged the value of the Scrip- 
tures is taken by many to be a glorious victory for 
God; while, on the contrary, fallen humanity is 
less inclined to accept God's terms of salvation than 
in the generations past. 

It is evident that this partial concession of the 
world to the testimony of God has opened the way 
for counterfeit systems of truth, which, according 
to prophecy, are the last and most to be dreaded 
methods in the Satanic warfare. In this connection 
it must be conceded that Satan has really granted 
nothing from his own position, even though he be 
forced to acknowledge every principle of truth save 
that upon which salvation depends. Eather is he 
advantaged by such a concession ; for the value and 
delusion of a counterfeit is increased by the near- 
ness of its likeness to the real. By advocating much 
truth, in the form of a counterfeit system of truth, 
Satan can satisfy all the external religious cravings 
of the world, and yet accomplish his own end by 
withholding that on which man's only hope de- 
pends. It is, therefore, no longer safe to subscribe 
blindly to that which promises general good, sim- 
ply because it is good and is garnished with the 
teachings of the Bible ; for good has ceased to be all 
on one side and evil all on the other. In fact, that 
which is evil in purpose has gradually appropriated 



86 



Satan 



the good until but one issue distinguishes them. 
Part-truth-ism has come into final conflict with 
whole-truth-ism, and woe to the soul that does not 
discern between them. The first, though exter- 
nally religious, is of Satan, and leaves its followers 
in the doom of everlasting banishment from the 
presence of God: while the latter is of God, "hav- 
ing promise for the life that now is and that which 
is to come." 

It is also noticeable that the term "infidel" has, 
within a generation, disappeared from common 
usage, and that manner of open denial of the truth 
has been almost wholly abandoned. Yet the real 
Church has by no means lost her foes, for they are 
now even more numerous, subtle, and terrible than 
ever before. These present enemies, however, like 
the unclean birds in the mustard tree, have taken 
shelter under her branches. They are officiating at 
her most sacred altars and conducting her institu- 
tions. These vultures are fed by a multitude, both 
in the church and out, who, in Satanic blindness, 
are committed to the furtherance of any project or 
the acceptance of any theory that promises good 
to the world or is apparently based upon Scripture, 
little realizing that they are often really supporting 
the enemy of God. 

A counterfeit is Satan's most natural method of 
resisting the purpose of God, since by it he can 
realize to that extent his desire to be like the Most 
High. Every material is now at hand, as never 
before, for the setting up of those conditions which 
are predicted to appear only in the very end of 



Satan's Methods 



87 



the age. In 2 Tim. 3 : 1-5 one of these predictions 
may be found: "This know also, that in the last 
days perilous times shall come. For men shall be 
lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, 
blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, 
unholy, without natural affection, truce-breakers, 
false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those 
that are good, traitors, heady, high-minded, lovers 
of pleasures more than lovers of God ; having a form 
of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from 
such turn away. ' ' 

Every word of this prophecy is worthy of most 
careful study in the light of the present tendency 
of society. The fifth verse is especially important 
in connection with the subject of counterfeits of 
the truth: "Having a form of godliness, but de- 
nying the power thereof: from such turn away." 
Here it is stated that in these last days forms of 
godliness shall appear which, however, deny the 
power of God ; and from such the believer is warned 
to turn away. The important element in the true 
faith which is to be omitted in these "forms" is 
carefully defined elsewhere in the Scriptures: 
"For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ : for 
it is the power of God unto salvation to every one 
that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the 
Greek" (Rom. 1:16). "But we preach Christ 
crucified, unto the J ews a stumblingblock, and unto 
the Greeks foolishness; but unto them which are 
called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of 
God, and the wisdom of God" (1 Cor. 1:23, 24). 
Therefore, that which is omitted so carefully from 



88 



Satan 



these forms is the salvation which is in Christ. 
This is most suggestive, for ' 1 there is none other 
name under heaven given among men, whereby we 
must be saved," and it is by salvation alone that 
any deliverance can be had from the power of dark- 
ness. Without this salvation Satan can still claim 
all his own. It is perhaps necessary to add that, 
judging from all his writings, this salvation of 
which Paul confesses he was not ashamed was no 
less an undertaking than regeneration by the Spirit ; 
and whatever other theories may be advanced, this 
is the teaching of the Spirit through the Apostle 
Paul. 

This prophecy concerning conditions in the 1 i last 
days' ' ends with an injunction which is addressed 
only to the believers who are called upon to live 
and witness during those days. To them it is said : 
1 1 from such [forms of godliness which deny the 
power thereof] turn away." As certainly as the 
"last days" are now present, so certainly this in- 
junction is now to be heeded, and the Lord's people 
are called upon to separate from churches and in- 
stitutions which deny the Gospel of God's saving 
grace through the substitutionary blood redemption 
of the cross. To support institutions or ministries 
which 1 ' deny the power thereof, " is to lend aid to 
Satan — the enemy of God. 

It therefore follows that one feature of the last 
days will be a form of godliness which carefully de- 
nies the power of God in salvation. 

Again, Satan is "in the latter times" to be the 
promoter of a system of truth or doctrine: "Now 



Satan's Methods 



8 9 



the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter 
times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed 
to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils ; speak- 
ing lies in hypocrisy ; having their conscience seared 
with a hot iron" (1 Tim. 4 : 1, 2) . These predicted 
Satanic systems are here carefully described. 
Their offers will be so attractive and externally so 
religious that into them will be drawn some "who 
shall depart from the faith"; they being enticed 
by seducing spirits. These attractive systems are 
not only from Satan, but are themselves "lies in 
hypocrisy," being presented by those whose con- 
science has been seared with a hot iron. No more 
illuminating terms could be used than these. A 
lie covered by hypocrisy means, evidently, that 
they are still attempting to be counted among the 
faithful ; and the conscience seared would indicate 
that they can distort the testimony of God and 
blindly point other souls to the bottomless pit, with- 
out present remorse or regret. 

The doctrine of devils is again referred to in 
Kev. 2: 24 as "the deep things of Satan," and this 
is Satan's counterfeit of "the deep things of God" 
which the Spirit reveals to them that love Him 
(1 Cor. 2:10). 

Thus there are predicted for the last days of this 
age, both a form of godliness which denies the 
power of salvation that is in Christ, and a system 
known as "the deep things of Satan" or "doctrines 
of devils," speaking lies in hypocrisy. Can there 
be any doubt that these two Scriptures describe 
the same thing, since they also refer to the same 



9 o 



Satan 



time? The lies of one can be but the covered de- 
nial of salvation in the other. 

Again, Satan has his assembly or congregational 
meeting which is his counterfeit of the visible 
church. This assembly is referred to, both in Rev. 
2:9 and 3:9, as the " synagogue of Satan"; an 
organized assembly being relatively as important 
for the testimony in the deep things of Satan as it 
has been in the things of God. 

In Matt. 13 the tares appear among the wheat 
and their appearance is said to be after the sowing 
of the wheat. So, also, the "children of the 
wicked one" appear and are often included and 
even organized within the forms of the visible 
church. 

The assembly of Satan, calling itself a part of 
the visible church, is to have its ministers and 
teachers. This is stated in 2 Cor. 11 : 13-15 : 
"For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, 
transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ. 
And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed 
into an angel of light. Therefore it is no great 
thing if his ministers also be transformed as the 
ministers of righteousness; whose end shall be ac- 
cording to their works." Here is a remarkable 
revelation of the possible extent of the Satanic 
counterfeit: "False apostles, deceitful workers, 
transforming themselves into apostles of Christ" 
and "ministers of righteousness"; yet these are 
shown to be only agents of the great deceiver, 
Satan, who is himself transformed into an angel of 
light. It is evident that the method of this decep- 



Satan's Methods 



9i 



tion is to imitate the real ministers of Christ. 
Certainly these false apostles cannot so appear un- 
less they gather into their message every available 
"form of godliness'' and cover their lies with the 
most subtle hypocrisy. Evil will not appear on 
the outside of these systems; but they will be an- 
nounced as 1 i another gospel "or asa larger under- 
standing of the previously accepted truth, and will 
be all the more attractive and delusive since they 
are heralded by those who claim to be ministers of 
Christ, who reflect the beauty of an "angel of 
light/' and whose lives are undoubtedly free from 
great temptation. It should be noted, however, 
that these false ministers do not necessarily know 
the real mission they have. Being unregenerate 
persons of the Satanic system, and thus blinded to 
the real Gospel, they are sincere; preaching and 
teaching the best things the angel of light, their 
energizing power, is pleased to reveal unto them. 
Their gospel is one of human reason, and appeals 
to human resources. There can be no apprecia- 
tion of divine revelation in them, for they have not 
come really to know God or His Son, Jesus Christ. 
They are ministers of righteousness which should 
never be confused with the preaching of grace. 
One is directed only at the reformation of the 
natural man, while the other aims at regeneration 
through the power of God. As all this is true, how 
perilous is the attitude of many who follow attrac- 
tive ministers and religious guides only because 
they claim to be such and are sincere, and who are 
not awake to the one final test of doctrine by which 



92 



Satan 



alone the whole covered system of Satanic lies may 
be distinguished from the truth of God. In this 
connection John writes the following warning: 
"If there come any unto you, and bring not this 
doctrine, receive him not into your house, neither 
bid him God speed" (2 John 10). 

False teachers are usually sincere and full of 
humanitarian zeal; but they are unregenerate. 
This judgment necessarily follows when it is un- 
derstood that they deny the only ground of re- 
demption. Being unregenerate, it is said of them : 
"But the natural man receiveth not the things of 
the Spirit of God : for they are foolishness unto 
him: neither can he know them, because they are 
spiritually discerned" (1 Cor. 2:14). Such reli- 
gious leaders may be highly educated and able to 
speak with authority on every aspect of human 
knowledge, but if they are not born again, their 
judgment in spiritual matters is worthless and mis- 
leading. All teachers are to be judged by their 
attitude toward the doctrine of the blood redemp- 
tion of Christ, rather than by their winsome per- 
sonalities, or by their sincerity. 

There yet remains one mighty element in the 
program of Satan's counterfeits in addition to his 
outward forms, deep doctrines, church and minis- 
ters, — that is, the Man of Sin, the blasphemous 
counterfeit of the blessed Christ; who is yet to 
appear ; who will be the very incarnation of Satan ; 
and "whose coming is after the working of Satan 
with all power and signs and lying wonders and 
all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that 



Satan's Methods 



93 



perish' 9 (2 Thes. 2: 9, 10). As the whole purpose 
of God in the ages has its consummation in the yet 
future coming of Christ, so Satan, in imitation of 
the program of God, has appointed a coming one 
(2 Thes. 2:9), who will be his greatest manifesta- 
tion, and upon whom he will bestow his greatest 
wisdom, power and attractiveness. The study of 
this mighty and imposing character can only be 
suggested in the following pages. 

The titles of Satan would indicate that he is at- v 
tempting, also, in himself to counterfeit the Per- 
sons of the blessed Trinity. He appears as "the 
god of this world " in imitation of God the Father; 
he appears as the "prince of the world " in imita- 
tion of God the Son; and "the spirit that now 
energizeth in the children of disobedience' ' is his 
imitation of God the Spirit who dwells in and 
energizes the true believers. Thus his desire to be 
like the Most High has led him to a blasphemous 
attempt to imitate all the separate manifestations 
of the three Persons of the Godhead. But since 
redemption, which he proposes to hinder, is the 
work of the second Person — God the Son, Satan 
more often appears as a counterfeit of Christ, both 
in title and undertaking; and this is the character 
in which he makes his last and most desperate ef- 
fort before he is banished to the pit and his final 
judgment is begun. 



CHAPTER VIII 



THE MAN OF SIN 

REFERENCE has already been made to a pe- 
riod of tribulation yet to come upon the 
earth. That period is referred to in the Bible by 
various figures: "The great tribulation, " "the 
time of Jacob's trouble/' and "a day of darkness 
and gloominess, a day of clouds and thick dark- 
ness." It is also described as the culmination of 
the great apostasy, which apostasy is predicted for 
the end of this age, and which is emphasized in the 
later Epistles of the New Testament. These Epis- 
tles not only recognize a complete apostasy yet to 
come in this age, but teach that the germ of that 
apostasy was apparent even then at the time when 
they were written. This teaching of the apostles 
finds its natural culmination in the last book of the 
Bible wherein the exact development of the apos- 
tasy and the conditions to prevail in the tribulation 
are recorded at length. All other references, both 
in the Old Testament and the New, perfectly agree 
with this extended description. 

In reference to the time of the tribulation which 
is thus predicted, Paul states in 2 Thes. 2: 3 "Let 
no man deceive you by any means: for that day 
['the day of the Lord'] shall not come, except 

94 



The Man of Sin 



95 



there come a falling away first, and that man of 
sin be revealed, the son of perdition," thus show- 
ing that the tribulation precedes the Day of the 
Lord. In Eev. 19, that day is seen to be the termi- 
nation of the tribulation, which is previously de- 
scribed in that book. This period of tribulation 
is, therefore, to come before the kingdom age, and 
to be ended by the glorious appearing of Christ, 
the King. 

Again, the tribulation is to come after the true 
Church has been removed ; for it should be remem- 
bered that the true believers are to be saved out 
of the "hour of trial which shall come upon the 
earth to try those that dwell therein" (Rev. 3 : 10), 
and he is not "appointed unto wrath" (1 Thes. 
5:9). The believer, being a citizen of heaven is, 
therefore, not included among those who dwell in 
the earth. The Lord comes first, not to the earth, 
but into the air to meet His Bride and gather her 
to Himself; both those that are sleeping and those 
that are awake: "For the Lord himself shall de- 
scend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of 
the archangel, and with the trump of God : and the 
dead in Christ shall rise first: then we which are 
alive and remain shall be caught up together with 
them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: 
and so shall we ever be with the Lord" (1 Thes. 
4:16, 17). His coming to receive His heavenly 
people — the Church — is imminent and has been 
since the promises of His return were given ; and it 
is for this particular preliminary event that the 
Church is taught to hope and pray, for it will be 



9 6 



Satan 



the time of her rapture and blessedness. As has 
been before stated, the utter dissolution of human- 
ity is latent in the unregenerated heart (Rom. 3: 
10-18), and its own tribulation only awaits this 
removal of all divine restraint. It is, therefore, 
both Scriptural and reasonable to conclude that 
tribulation will instantly begin upon the earth after 
Christ comes for His Church. 

Thus it may be seen that this period of unsur- 
passed trial upon the earth, when the blasphemous 
claims of Satan and man are to be proven and 
God's testimony is to be vindicated, is bounded by 
the two events: when He comes for His saints 
(1 Thes. 4: 16, 17), to gather to Himself His heav- 
enly people, and when He comes with His saints 
(Rev. 19: 11-21), at which time He will completely 
fulfil all the covenants of God with His earthly 
people. 

The actual duration of this period is marked off 
in Daniel 9 : 24-27 : 1 6 Seventy weeks are deter- 
mined upon thy people and upon thy holy city, to 
finish the transgression, and to make an end of sins, 
and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to 
bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up 
the vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most 
Holy. Know therefore and understand, that from 
the going forth of the commandment to restore and 
to build Jerusalem unto the Messiah the Prince shall 
be seven weeks, and three score and two weeks : the 
street shall be built again, and the wall, even in 
troublous times. And after the three score and 
two weeks shall Messiah be cut off, but not for him- 



The Man of Sin 



97 



self: and the people of the prince that shall come 
shall destroy the city and the sanctuary; and the 
end thereof shall be with a flood, and unto the end 
of the war desolations are determined. And he 
shall confirm the covenant with many for one 
week: and in the midst of the week he shall cause 
the sacrifice and the oblation to cease, and for the 
overspreading of abominations he shall make it 
desolate, even until the consummation, and that 
determined shall be poured upon the desolate. " 

There are three distinct periods of time here in- 
dicated. First, seventy weeks (the Hebrew word 
refers to a period which may be divided into seven, 
whether days, weeks, or years) between the time 
of the vision and the age of i ' everlasting righteous- 
ness' ' and anointing of the most Holy; or, from 
the time of the vision to the earthly kingdom of 
Christ, which is yet future. Second, sixty-nine 
weeks, beginning to reckon from the same time, or 
from the command of the King of Babylon to re- 
store Jerusalem, and continuing unto the death of 
Christ which is referred to as the " cutting off of 
the Messiah." And lastly, one week, for the over- 
spreading of abomination and that which is deter- 
mined to be poured upon the desolate. 

History fortunately interprets the time here in- 
dicated : for, from the command of the King to re- 
build Jerusalem, to the death of Christ was 483 
years, or sixty-nine weeks of seven years each. 
This leaves but the one additional week of the sev- 
enty before the bringing in of the everlasting right- 
eousness. That one week is here described as the 



9 8 



Satan 



time of most terrible desolation and overspreading 
of abomination when the people are under a cove- 
nant with another prince. This present age is as 
a parenthesis in Jewish history and, as no account 
is made of it in these reckonings, the last unful- 
filled week (seven years) of the seventy, before 
the kingdom is established upon the earth, must 
be the time between the gathering out of the Church 
— an event which completes the purpose of this 
parenthetical age — and the final bringing in of the 
kingdom. 

The last period of seven years of desolation is 
however, to be shortened, according to the words 
of Christ: "For then shall be great tribulation, 
such as was not since the beginning of the world to 
this time, no, nor ever shall be. And except those 
days should be shortened, there should no flesh be 
saved: but for the elect's sake those days shall be 
shortened" (Matt. 24:21, 22). It should be no- 
ticed that this period cannot be confused easily 
with any other, for it is referred to as the time 
more terrible than any other that has ever been, or 
ever will be (Dan. 12:1; Joel 2:2; Matt, 24:21, 
22). 

Eeference has been made at length to the tribu- 
lation period in order to make clear the exact con- 
ditions in which the Man of Sin is to appear; for 
this mighty world-ruler makes his advent in those 
days of earth's darkness and gloom when all the 
light of God has been withdrawn, and the world is 
left in its own helpless confusion. He appears in 
the tribulation as the agent of Satan after that 



The Man of Sin 



99 



mighty head of the Satanic system has been cast 
out of heaven into the earth (Rev. 12 : 7-12) . The 
time of the destruction of the Man of Sin is also re- 
vealed in that it is mentioned as one of the events 
in the glorious coming of Christ (Dan. 2:44; 
7:11-14; 2 Thes. 2:8; Rev. 19:20). He, there- 
fore, appears as the culmination of the Satanic 
effort, and a careful study of his person and char- 
acter will reveal the fact that he is the most stu- 
pendous work of Satan in his enmity against God. 

In connection with the time of the Man of Sin, 
it is also to be noted that the believer is not directly 
warned against his person, but is, rather, warned 
against the conditions that are to prevail as a 
preparation for his coming. This is due to the fact 
that the true believers are to be gathered to their 
Lord before that "wicked one" appears, and they 
are, therefore, only in danger of being influenced 
by that which precedes and prepares for his com- 
ing. His description is set forth at length only in 
such passages as deal with the whole and final de- 
velopment of the age. 

It should also be remembered that the descrip- 
tion of this person, like that of the person and work 
of Satan, is from the standpoint of the holiness of 
God; and that which the world will hail as its 
glorious ideal of perfection is, in God's sight, the 
personification of rebelliousness, blasphemy, and 
treason. 

The order of the governments and rulers of the 
world in this Gentile age is revealed to Daniel in 
visions which are recorded and interpreted in the 



100 



Satan 



book of Daniel. In these visions the Man of Sin 
appears as the "little horn" of Dan. 7 and is the 
last and most God-dishonoring world-rnler. He 
also later appears as the "desolator" of Dan. 9 : 27; 
the "willful king" of Dan. 11:36; the "abomina- 
tion of desolation" of Matt. 24:15; the "man of 
sin" of 2 Thes. 2 : 4-8 ; the rider on the white horse 
of Rev. 6:2; and the first Beast of Rev. 13. His 
identity is certain, even though he appears under 
various figures and titles; for he, like Satan, is so 
unique in his character, time, and undertakings, 
that he cannot be confused easily with any other. 

In Daniel 2 the order of Gentile governments is 
set forth by the figure of the great image which, at 
the last, is suddenly and violently shattered by the 
"stone cut from the mountain without hands": 
which stone is Christ, the Corner Stone; and the 
Stone which the builders rejected. The feet and 
toes of this image are said to be the last manifesta- 
tion of human government, and it is this part of the 
image that is violently shattered by the stone. Of 
this termination of earthly rule it is recorded in 
Dan. 2:44, 45: "And in the days of these kings 
shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom, which 
shall never be destroyed : and the kingdom shall not 
be left to other people, but it shall break in pieces 
and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand 
forever. For as much as thou sawest that the 
stone was cut out of the mountain without hands, 
and that it brake in pieces the iron, the brass, the 
clay, the silver, and the gold; the great God hath 
made known to the king what shall come to pass 



The Man of Sin 



101 



hereafter; and the dream is certain, and the inter- 
pretation thereof sure." 

From this chapter it may be seen that the setting 
up of the Messianic Kingdom is to be both sudden 
and destructive to all human governments, and that 
it is in no way the result of an age of development 
and progressive improvement. 

In Dan. 7 the Man of Sin appears, as has been 
stated, as the "little horn" among ten horns, which, 
like the ten toes of the great image, indicate the ex- 
treme end of human authority and power. In this 
vision the latter end of the kingdoms of the earth 
is seen to culminate in the one most daring ruler, 
the "little horn," who has "a mouth speaking 
great things" and whose look is more imposing 
than all others; and he it is who makes war with 
the saints and prevails over them until the coming 
of the Ancient of Days. The inspired interpreta- 
tion of the vision is given in Dan. 7 : 23-27 : 
"Thus he said, the fourth beast shall be the fourth 
kingdom upon earth, which shall be diverse from 
all kingdoms, and shall devour the whole earth, and 
shall tread it down, and break it in pieces. And 
the ten horns out of this kingdom are ten kings 
that shall arise : and another shall arise after them ; 
and he shall be diverse from the first, and he shall 
subdue three kings. And he shall speak great 
words against the most High, and shall wear out 
the saints of the most High, and think to change 
times and laws: and they shall be given into his 
hand until a time and times and the dividing of 
time. But the judgment shall sit, and they shall 



102 



Satan 



take away his dominion, to consume and destroy it 
unto the end. And the kingdom and dominion, 
and the greatness of the kingdom under the whole 
heaven, shall be given to the people of the saints 
of the most High, whose kingdom is an everlasting 
kingdom, and all dominion shall serve and obey 
him." 

In Dan. 11 the reign of the Man of Sin, the will- 
ful king, is prophesied in detail; and the fact is 
stated that the reign and the blasphemous attitude 
of this last great ruler are both in the purpose of 
God. A portion of this remarkable passage is here 
given: "And the king shall do according to his 
will ; and he shall exalt himself, and magnify him- 
self above every God, and shall speak marvellous 
things against the God of gods, and shall prosper 
until the indignation be accomplished: for that 
that is determined shall be done. Neither shall he 
regard the God of his fathers, nor the desire of 
women, nor regard any god: for he shall magnify 
himself above all. But in his estate shall he honor 
the God of forces : and a god whom his fathers knew 
not shall he honor with gold, and silver, and with 
precious stones, and pleasant things. Thus shall 
he do in the most strong holds with a strange god, 
whom he shall acknowledge and increase with 
glory: and he shall cause them to rule over many, 
and shall divide the land for gain. 7 ' This last 
verse is more clearly translated "and he will prac- 
tice in the strongholds of fortresses with a strange 
god; whoso acknowledged him will be increased 
with glory; and he shall cause them to rule over 



The Man of Sin 103 

the many, and shall divide the land to them for a 
reward" (Dan. 11:36-39). 

In addition to disregard for God on the part 
of the Man of Sin, this passage presents several 
important revelations. First, the expression "the 
God of his fathers " would seem to indicate that 
the Man of Sin would come from a lineage of God- 
fearing people. Second, his disregard for the de- 
sire of women is possibly a result of his hatred 
of the true Messiah; for this reference may be to 
the desire of every Jewish woman to be the mother 
of Messiah. Third, those who acknowledge the 
strange god (Satan), whom he honors, will be pros- 
pered, and the land will be divided unto them and 
he will give them authority and glory. 

In the New Testament the Man of Sin is de- 
scribed as "the one who comes in his own name," 
whom men will receive (John 5:43); "that man 
of sin," "the son of perdition" (2 Thes. 2:3); 
"that Wicked" (one) (2 Thes. 2:8); and the 
"beast" (Rev. 13:1), and to him Satan gives all 
the power and glory which he offered to Christ 
(Lk. 4: 5, 6). Of the many references to him, two 
passages deal with him at length. In the first (2 
Thes. 2: 1-10), his coming is mentioned as directly 
following the removal of God's present restraint 
from the earth; and in the second (Rev. 13:1-8), 
as before stated, his coming is seen directly to fol- 
low the casting of Satan from heaven into the 
earth (Rev. 12:7-12), and continues until the glo- 
rious appearing of Christ, which is described in 
Rev. 19 and 20. 



104 



Satan 



The former passage (2 Thes. 2:1-10) is as fol- 
lows: "Now, we beseech you, brethren, by the 
coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gath- 
ering together unto him, that y^ be not soon shaken 
in mind, or be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by 
word, nor by letter as from us, as that the day of 
Christ [the Lord] is at hand. Let no man deceive 
you by any means : for that day shall not come, ex- 
cept there come a falling away first, and that man 
of sin be revealed, the son of perdition; who op- 
poseth and exalteth himself above all that is called 
God, or that is worshipped ; so that he as God sitteth 
in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is 
God. Remember ye not, that, when I was yet with 
you, I told you these things ? And, now, ye know 
what withholdeth that he might be revealed in his 
time. For the mystery of iniquity doth already 
work: only he who now letteth [restrains] will let, 
until he be taken out of the way. And then shall 
that Wicked [one] be revealed, whom the Lord 
shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and 
shall destroy with the brightness of his coming; 
even him, whose coming is after the working of 
Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders, 
and with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in 
them that perish ; because they receive not the love 
of the truth, that they might be saved. ' 1 

In this passage it is predicted of this mighty 
person that he will assume to be very God, i 1 sitting 
in the temple as God," and winning the worship 
of the multitude by his miraculous power, signs, 
and lying wonders; deceiving all who perish, and 



The Man of Sin 



105 



who would not receive the love of the truth that 
they might be saved. 

Still another and more striking description of 
this person is given in the second passage just 
mentioned (Rev. 13:1-8): "And I stood upon 
the sand of the sea, and saw a beast rise up out of 
the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and 
upon his horns ten crowns, and upon his heads the 
name of blasphemy. And the beast which I saw 
was like unto a leopard, and his feet were as the 
feet of a bear, and his mouth as the mouth of a 
lion: and the dragon [Satan] gave him his power, 
and his seat, and his great authority. And I saw 
one of his heads as it were wounded to death ; and 
his deadly wound was healed : and all the world 
wondered after the beast. And they worshipped 
the dragon [Satan] which gave power unto the 
beast ; and they worshipped the beast, saying, Who 
is like unto the beast? Who is able to make war 
with him ? And there was given unto him a mouth 
speaking great things and blasphemies; and power 
was given unto him to continue forty and two 
months. And he opened his mouth in blasphemy 
against God, to blaspheme his name, and his taber- 
nacle, and them that dwell in heaven. And it was 
given unto him to make war with the saints, and 
to overcome them : and power was given him over 
all kindreds, and tongues, and nations. And all 
that dwell upon the earth shall worship him. whose 
names are not written in the book of life of the 
Lamb slain from the foundation of the world." 

The first and, it would seem, most important 



io6 



Satan 



thing that is stated of this being in this Scripture 
is that one of his heads was, as it were, wounded 
to death, and his deadly wound was healed. Some 
have claimed this to be a reference to a previous 
political defeat followed by reinstatement into 
power. This may be included, but the expression is, 
however, most suggestive and significant as an at- 
tempt on the part of Satan to imitate, in the Man 
of Sin, that which was the supreme miracle of the 
Christ — His death and resurrection. The effort is 
plainly effective; more so than a mere shifting of 
political fortune could possibly be, for the state- 
ment follows, "All the world wondered after the 
beast who had received the deadly wound and yet 
lived.' ' After they wondered, they worshipped. 
First they worshipped Satan, who performed the 
mighty miracle; and then they worshipped the 
beast, saying, "Who is like unto the beast? who is 
able to make war with him?" The blasphemy of 
the Man of Sin has been emphasized in all Scrip- 
ture references to him, and is here still more vividly 
pictured. 

The time he is to continue is said to be forty 
and two months, which would be one-half the tribu- 
lation period ; and this statement is probably not at 
all figurative. By his overwhelming supernatural 
power and wisdom he gains authority over every 
individual in the Satanic system (excepting those 
recorded in the Lamb 's book of life) . These are not 
brought under his governing power. 

The latter part of the chapter presents still an- 
other mighty person, who is also called a "beast," 



The Man of Sin 



107 



but later appears as the false prophet (Rev. 19: 
20) ; and who exercises all the power of the first 
beast, and receives his power from the dragon, 
Satan. Much is said of this second "beast," but 
his mission is in no way to attract attention to him- 
self. He co-oi)erates in gaining world-wide wor- 
ship and authority for the first beast, whose deadly 
wound was healed. The second beast seems to deal 
directly with the people and by his mighty signs 
and miracles, as well as by his authority, he com- 
pels loyalty to the first beast. Fire is called down 
from heaven, and a dumb idol is made to speak and 
live. He is able to establish a union of all people 
in trade, imposing a death penalty upon them. 
And by all these means he furthers the interests of 
the first beast. The Scripture here referred to is 
as follows: "And I beheld another beast coming 
up out of the earth; and he had two horns like a 
lamb, and he spake as a dragon [Satan]. And he 
exerciseth all the power of the first beast before 
him, and causeth the earth and them which dwell 
therein to worship the first beast, whose deadly 
wound was healed. And he cloeth great wonders, 
so that he maketh fire come down from heaven on 
the earth in the sight of men, and deceiveth them 
that dwell on the earth, by the means of those mira- 
cles which he had power to do in the sight of the 
beast ; saying to them that dwell on the earth, that 
they should make an image to the beast, which had 
the wound by a sword, and did live. And he had 
power to give life unto the image of the beast, that 
the image of the beast should both speak, and cause 



io8 



Satan 



that as many as would not worship the image of 
the beast should be killed. And he causeth all, 
both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, 
to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their 
foreheads : and that no man might buy or sell, save 
he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, 
or the number of his name. Here is wisdom. 
Let him that hath understanding count the number 
of the beast: for it is the number of a man; and 
his number is Six hundred three score and six" 
(Rev. 13:11-18). 

There is a deep suggestion in the person of this 
second beast of a counterfeit of the Holy Spirit of 
God. He who came not to speak from Himself, 
but to glorify Christ and to unite all believers, 
leading them in worship and praise. This second 
beast is probably identical with ' ' Anti-christ" who 
appears under that title only in the writings of 
John, and who is there seen as the consummation 
of a long succession of false religious teachers who 
have denied the Christ and His sacrificial work. 

"When the testimony of all the Scriptures relat- 
ing to the Man of Sin is considered, he is seen to 
be a person whose superhuman power is plainly 
ascribed to Satan. He appears upon the scene, 
after the removal of the heavenly people and dur- 
ing the great tribulation, as the climax of all Sa- 
tanic exaltation and opposition to God. He is the 
last and greatest of earthly rulers, and, from his 
position of unsurpassed influence, speaks great 
words and manifests great wisdom. He is exter- 



The Man of Sin 



109 



nally religious, and the promoter of righteous proj- 
ects and principles which in God's sight are only 
hypocrisy and blasphemy because of the subtle 
Christ-denying motive which prompts all his un- 
dertakings. His hold upon the public mind is by 
a process which is natural. Great miracles are 
performed by himself and by his prophet, — fire is 
called down from heaven; a dumb idol is made to 
speak and live, and he himself has been wounded 
to death and yet lives. By such supernatural 
works his assumption to be very God is accepted, 
and he becomes the world's ideal of all that is su- 
preme. The people are said first to marvel and 
wonder; then to worship at his feet; and at last, in 
mad devotion, they challenge the universe to pro- 
duce his equal — 6 ' Who is like the beast ? ' ' they cry. 
He has been wounded to death and yet lives; he 
performs as great miracles as the world has ever 
seen; and he must, therefore, be God manifest in 
the flesh. His wisdom, beauty and majesty are a 
seeming warrant for the highest adoration. 

Thus the Man of Sin will appear as the culmina- 
tion of all the counterfeit methods of Satan, which 
methods had their beginnings in the last days of 
the age, even before the calling away of the true 
Church, the Body of Christ. The subtle doctrines 
of devils will be adopted as creeds in assemblies and 
so called churches, and these deep things, with the 
Satanic ambition for moral improvement, will be 
voiced by ministers who appear as apostles of Christ 
and ministers of righteousness. Yet in God's sight 



no 



Satan 



it is all a deep lie and hypocrisy, for they are dis- 
torting His truth and subtly denying His redemp- 
tion. 

All this, as has been stated, is but the Satanic 
preparation of humanity that they may wholly ac- 
knowledge Satan as their god, and that he may 
himself become like the Most High. This program 
is permitted in the purpose of God, for "that that 
is determined shall be done" (Dan. 11 : 36) . It will 
be only for a moment ; for the resistless coming of 
the "Ancient of Days" will unveil all this decep- 
tion, banish the enemies, and bring in His own long- 
predicted and glorious reign of everlasting blessed- 
ness upon the earth. 



CHAPTER IX 



THE FATAL OMISSION 

TO some extent it has been necessary to antici- 
pate the subject of this chapter in dealing 
with those counterfeits which are predicted for the 
last days, when there will be found a "form of 
godliness, denying the power thereof, ' ' and also the 
deep " doctrines of devils" which are "lies in hy- 
pocrisy/' This chapter deals with that which is 
vital in the true faith, and which is to be so care- 
fully omitted in the false faith, — that which makes 
the true so potent, and without which the false be- 
comes an immeasurable deception. Everything de- 
pends upon this one point of distinction; for, ac- 
cording to prophecy, it is the only difference that 
is finally to exist between the false and the true. 
The issue is, therefore, as important as life itself. 

It has already been seen that the method of coun- 
terfeiting, if successful, will require Satan to ap- 
propriate and incorporate in his false systems every 
available principle of the true, for the deception of 
the counterfeit depends wholly upon its likeness to 
the real. By this is revealed the reason for calling 
that a lie or deception which is externally so like 
the truth. Certainly there could be no greater 
pitfall for souls than a system which seems to be 
the truth of God, and yet robs its followers of any 

in 



112 



Satan 



basis far a true hope, and it will be found that the 
strongest condemnation of the Bible is uttered 
against such systems and their promoters. 

In seeking to discover the actual point of differ- 
ence between the false and the true, it will be well, 
first, to consider the present perverted relation 
which exists between the Creator and the fallen 
human creature; for herein is revealed the neces- 
sity for that which God proposes to accomplish by 
redemption. 

Two important points in Satan's doctrine were 
announced by him in the Garden of Eden when he 
first approached the woman, and these two declara- 
tions have been an important part of the world's 
creeds throughout the history of man. The first 
was a bold denial of a positive statement of God, 
when Satan said: "Ye shall not surely die." 
Whether Satan intended here simply to deny the 
truth of God's statement, or whether he overesti- 
mated his own resources and proposed to shield 
them from their God-appointed doom, is not clear. 
Certainly the latter view is in keeping with Satan's 
original purpose, as well as with his evident sin- 
cerity. It is quite reasonable to conclude that, 
if he could be so misguided as to attempt to be like 
the Most High, he would willingly have undertaken 
to protect man from judgment which followed as a 
result of loyalty to himself. Satan is striving, at 
any rate, to direct the lives of those who are under 
his power into a degree of self development that 
will be a substitute for the revealed purpose of 
God for men. 



The Fatal Omission 



"3 



The second announcement of Satan assured the 
woman that they would, by this independent action, 
"be as gods"; and this, so far from promising 
death, seemed to them the immediate realization of 
the highest ideal. The consummation of this ideal 
is thus described: "For whom he did foreknow, 
he also did predestinate to be conformed to the 
image of his Son" (Rom. 8:29). "Beloved, now 
are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear 
what we shall be : but we know that, when he shall 
appear, we shall be like him ; for we shall see him 
as he is" (1 John 3:2). "When Christ, who is 
our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with 
him in glory" (Col. 3:4). "Now unto him that 
is able to keep you from falling, and to present you 
faultless before the presence of his glory with ex- 
ceeding joy" (Jude 24). "For our citizenship is 
in heaven; whence also we wait for a Saviour, the 
Lord Jesus Christ: who shall fashion anew the 
body of our humiliation, that it may be conformed 
to the body of his glory, according to the working 
whereby he is able even to subject all things unto 
himself" (Phil. 3:20, 21, R. V.). 

It is natural that Satan should suggest to human- 
ity that which had been the objective of his own 
unholy ambition ; and especially is it natural, since 
by such a separation of humanity from its God, he 
could claim that authority over them, and secure 
that worship from them which he so much craved. 

There are, then, at least two distinct methods pro- 
posed for the uplifting of humanity, and these are 
brought into sharp contrast; for one is of Satan, 



H4 



Satan 



and the other is of God. Since both these methods 
claim to aim at the same end — though one ideal is 
not worthy to be compared with the other — 
the method, alone, forms the first point for dis- 
cussion. 

Under the Satanic control man has always been 
strangely influenced in the matter of his relation to 
his Creator. He, too, has been willing to assume 
a hopeless position of independence toward God ; 
and, under that abnormal relation, he has gone out 
alone to grope his way, blindly seeking to build 
his own character, and by education and cultiva- 
tion to improve his natural heart which God has 
pronounced humanly incurable. He has also bent 
his inventive skill to the development of means by 
which God-imposed labor may be avoided, and much 
of his selfish greed springs from a desire to pur- 
chase a substitute who shall bear for him the dis- 
comfort of a sweating brow. "God is not in all 
his thoughts"; nor has he any disposition to claim 
the help of God under the terms upon which it is 
offered. The Satanic method for life prompts him 
to attempt to become a god by a process of self- 
help and development of the finite resources. 

It is possible to introduce much of religious form 
into the world system of self-help ; for there is a 
great field for religious exercise for the one who is 
attempting to make himself Godlike, and there is 
endless material for supplication and prayer that 
all available assistance may be secured to aid one 
in that humanly impossible task. A devout spirit 
is, therefore, a part of the Satanic doctrine, and the 



The Fatal Omission 



115 



predicted " forms of godliness' ' will naturally ap- 
pear. 

There is a vast difference between an individual 
supplicating God to save him : and one supplicating 
God to help him save himself. The latter is a part 
of the Satanic plan and has no promise of divine 
favor upon it. All such religious exercise, though 
full of outward forms and deep sincerity, leaves its 
moral aspirants doomed, alike with the most de- 
graded, to an everlasting separation and banish- 
ment from the presence of God. Prayer and re- 
ligious practice do not really place the saving work 
in the hands of God, but mockingly ask Him to give 
His sanction and assistance to that which wholly 
dishonors and disregards Him, and which is also 
both unreasonable and impossible. 

Though the process by which unfallen man 
would have reached a higher development has not 
been revealed, it is certain that he would have 
been then, as now, wholly dependent upon the Cre- 
ator. Man's present independence toward God is 
the blindest delusion of the fallen nature, for com- 
plete independence cannot even be assumed in the 
least of all temporal things. How much less is it 
possible to be independent in that which is spir- 
itual ! 

Again, the self-saving principle is utter folly, 
since God must demand a quality which no human 
being can present. God's requirement is not unrea- 
sonable, however, for He also proposes to bestow, in 
grace, all that He ever demands. The absolute 
righteousness of God demands no less than absolute 



n6 



Satan 



righteousness in all who are acceptable to Him ; yet 
He has never mocked man by asking him to make 
himself acceptable, or even to attempt to do it by 
divine help. True salvation is wholly a work of 
God, and provides a standing in Christ which is the 
very righteousness of God. It is said to be both a 
finished work and a gift, and, therefore, it lays no 
obligation upon the saved one to complete it him- 
self, or to make after payments of service for it; 
though the saved one is called upon to serve from 
another and more glorious motive. 

The divine terms of obtainment into Godlike- 
ness are clearly stated in the Scriptures. How- 
ever, the estimate God has placed upon human na- 
ture at its best, and the logical necessity that man 
shall receive, as a gift, all that he has, and be for- 
ever a debtor to the divine giver, have always been 
rejected by self-sufficient and Satan-inspired 
humanity. These terms are the only possible or 
reasonable relations that could rightfully exist be- 
tween fallen humanity and its Creator. At this 
point Satan has blinded the minds of the lost lest 
they should believe, and he has made that which is 
reasonable and natural seem to be unreasonable 
and unnatural. The unsaved are unable to aban- 
don their Satan-inspired sense of self-sufficiency 
and independence of God and receive from Him, 
as a gift, every quality which is commendable in 
His sight. 

The controversy between Satan-ruled man and 
God is one of method. It is one of self -righteous- 
ness and character building, or one of bestowed 



The Fatal Omission 



117 



righteousness and character by the fruit of the 
Spirit. Will man try to save himself, or humbly 
submit to being saved by Another? Will he try 
to conform himself to what little he knows to be 
good and true, or will he be transformed by the 
power of God into that which is no less than the 
image of Christ ? Will he present the sacrifice of a 
sincere effort to be moral and religious or accept 
the God-provided sacrifice for all sin in the shed 
blood of Christ? Will he try to establish himself 
before God on the ground of his own works, or rest 
in the finished work of Christ for him? Will he 
try to improve his fallen nature, or partake of 
the divine nature and become a son of God by the 
power of God, through faith in Christ Jesus? 

One method, it may be seen, depends wholly upon 
self for its realization, promises glory to man alone, 
and has its origin at that unknown time when Satan 
proposed in his heart to become like the Most 
High. The other method is dependent upon God 
alone, and, therefore, demands an attitude of faith 
toward Him for its realization, and issues in glory 
to the Creator, who alone is worthy to be praised. 
The latter, in contrast with Satan's method, had its 
origin in the purpose of God, which He purposed 
before the foundation of the world. Therein, 
transcendent blessings are offered, stores of grace 
are unfolded, and the omnipotent power of God 
is seen working for the transformation of His 
human creatures. These two methods are confused 
only because they seem to aim at the same general 
result In reality their results, like their methods, 



n8 



Satan 



are not only incomparable, but they are as far re- 
moved from each other as God's ways are higher 
than man's ways. 

The revelation from God in regard to salvation 
might have been limited to the fact that He, rather 
than man, was to accomplish the work : and while 
much that is involved in the mighty undertaking 
of redemption has not been, and probably cannot 
be, reduced to the level of human understanding, 
He saw fit to reveal much that was necessary, on 
both the Godward and the manward side, in provid- 
ing this way of salvation. Xo human conception 
of the atonement is complete. Notwithstanding 
this, the all-sufficient sacrificial death of Christ be- 
ing clearly stated in the Scriptures, its value, 
though unanalyzed, may be appropriated ; for man 
is not saved by what he comprehends or under- 
stands, but his salvation is made possible by his 
attitude of willingness and expectation toward the 
saving power of Christ. 

In determining the exact point of the truth that 
is to be omitted from the Satanic counterfeit, it is 
important to distinguish between the Person and 
work of Christ. In the one is included His teach- 
ings and example, both in His life and death : in the 
other is included His substitutionary, sacrificial, 
and atoning death for the sin of the world. There 
is no controversy as to the value of the teachings 
and example of Jesus, but the wisdom of this world 
is displayed in ever-increasing antagonism against 
the blood of the cross. This enmity has never been 
founded on the Word of God, for Scripture does 



The Fatal Omission 



119 



not deny itself. The opposition appeals to pride 
and human reason, and dares to challenge the plain 
statements of the Bible on this particular point. 
Very much is thus omitted ; for all the meaning of 
sacrifice in the Old Testament and all the promises 
of redemption in the New Testament are insepa- 
rably related to the blood of the cross. It may be 
to the Jew a stumbling block, and to the Greek 
foolishness; yet to those who are called, both Jews 
and Greeks, "it is the power of God and the wisdom 
of God." 

In Ephesians, the eternal purpose of God is said 
to be the complete perfection of believers: "Ac- 
cording as he hath chosen us in him before the 
foundation of the world, that we should be holy and 
without blame before him in love" (1:4). And 
that transformation is also said to be by the blood 
of Christ : "In whom we have redemption through 
his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the 
riches of his grace" (1:7). In like manner the 
object of this tranformation is said to be that the 
church may be the present and eternal manifesta- 
tion of the wisdom, love and power of God: "To 
the intent that now unto the principalities and pow- 
ers in heavenly places might be known by the 
church the manifold wisdom of God" (3:10). 
"That in the ages to come he might show the ex- 
ceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward 
us through Christ Jesus" (2:7). "And what is 
the exceeding greatness of his power to usward who 
believe, according to the working of his mighty 
power, which he wrought in Christ, when he raised 



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Satan 



him from the dead, and set him at his own right 
hand in the heavenly places" (1: 19, 20). 

There is also a strong contrast of figures used 
in the Old Testament which accurately emphasizes 
the mighty power of the Creator in the regenera- 
tion of a soul. In Psalm 8 : 3 the creation of the 
solar system is mentioned as the work of the fingers 
of God: "When I consider thy heavens, the work 
of thy fingers, the moon and the stars, which thou 
hast ordained,' ' but in Isa, 53:1, where the sub- 
stitutionary sacrifice of Christ is referred to, it is 
spoken of as the effort of the Creator's arm: 
"Who hath believed our report? and to whom is 
the arm of the Lord revealed?" The suggestion 
here given, that the creation of a universe is the 
work of His fingers, and the regeneration of souls 
is the work of His mighty arm, is not overdrawn; 
for the price of redemption cannot be measured 
by corruptible things, such as gold and silver : but is 
purchased at the price of the precious blood of 
Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without 
spot (1 Pet. 1:19). 

The Scriptures abound in statements that regen- 
eration, and the whole transforming work of re- 
demption, are accomplished on the ground of the 
sacrificial blood of the cross; and if these state- 
ments of the Bible are rejected, the discussion can 
never be one of interpretation of the Scriptures, but 
becomes a question of the authority of the testi- 
mony of the Bible. A few of these passages are 
here given : c 1 Surely he hath borne our griefs, and 
carried our sorrows : yet we did esteem him stricken, 



The Fatal Omission 



121 



smitten of God, and afflicted. But he was wounded 
for our transgressions, he was bruised for our ini- 
quities : the chastisement of our peace was upon 
him ; and with his stripes we are healed. All we 
like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every 
one to his own way; and the Lord hath laid on 
him the iniquity of us all" (Isa. 53:4-6). "Even 
as the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, 
but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for 
many" (Matt. 20:28). "Behold the Lamb of 
God, which taketh away the sin of the world" 
(John 1:29). "Whom God hath set forth to be 
a propitiation through faith in his blood" (Rom. 
3 : 25). "But God commencleth his love toward us, 
in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for 
us. Much more then, being now justified by his 
blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him" 
(Rom. 5:8, 9): "For he hath made him to be 
sin for us, who knew no sin ; that we might be 
made the righteousness of God in him" (2 Cor. 
5:21). "Who gave himself for our sins, that he 
might deliver us from this present evil world, ac- 
cording to the will of God and our Father" (Gal. 
1:4). "And every priest standeth daily minister- 
ing and offering oftentimes the same sacrifices, 
which can never take away sins : but this man, after 
he had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, sat 
down on the right hand of God; from henceforth 
expecting till his enemies be made his footstool. 
For by one offering he hath perfected forever them 
that are sanctified" (Heb. 10:11-14). "Who his 
own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree. 



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Satan 



that we, being dead to sins, should live unto 

righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed" 
(1 Pet. 2:24). "For Christ also hath once suf- 
fered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he 
might bring us to God, being put to death in the 
flesh, but quickened by the Spirit" (1 Pet. 3: 18). 
"And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not 
for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole 
world" (1 John 2:2). 

From the foregoing passages it may be seen that, 
according to the Scriptures, the stupendous trans- 
formation of regeneration is not only the greatest 
divine undertaking, but is directly accomplished on 
the grounds of the sacrificial death and shed blood 
of Christ, and is sealed in security by the Holy 
Spirit of promise. 

The sacrificial death of Christ presents the only 
gateway for fallen man from the power and final 
doom of Satan to the glory and transcendent light 
of God ; and there is nothing strange in the Satan- 
inspired "offence of the cross" which is often gar- 
nished with culture, worldly wisdom, and religious 
forms. Even in Paul's time there were those who 
were enemies of the cross of Christ: "For many 
walk, of whom I have told you often, and now tell 
you even weeping, that they are the enemies of 
the cross of Christ" (Phil 3:18). There were 
evidently recognized leaders in the Christian fel- 
lowship, who were undoubtedly ardent admirers of 
the Person of Jesus, as revealed in His earthly life 
and example : yet Paul does not hesitate to men- 
tion his own tears at the fatal omission in their 



The Fatal Omission 1^3 

preaching, for they were enemies of the cross of 
Christ. 

Again, it is predicted in 2 Pet. 2 : 1, 2 that a 
fierce enmity against the cross should appear: 
"But there were false prophets also among the 
people, even as there shall be false teachers among 
you, who privily shall bring in damnable heresies, 
even denying the Lord that bought them, and bring 
upon themselves swift destruction. And many 
shall follow their pernicious ways; by reason of 
whom the way of truth shall be evil spoken of." 
Here again the denial is against the purchase or 
redeeming work of Christ rather than His Person 
or character. They are offended at the Lord who 
bought them, though they may be devoted to the 
Lord who taught them. These Satanic agents are 
described here, as before, as those who seem to 
be teachers in the true faith, yet they bring in 
damnable heresies, in all covered subtlety, crystal- 
lizing in a denial of the redemption that is in 
Christ. Being only blinded unregenerate men, 
they may suppose themselves to be ministers of 
righteousness and apostles of Christ. Their hu- 
manitarian dreams may inspire tireless effort and 
zeal, their doctrine may become world-wide in its 
influence, and they may drive their mighty ecclesi- 
astical machinery by the injunctions of Scripture ; 
yet if the curtain could be lifted, their "angel of 
light " would be found to be Satan, working through 
them to resist the purpose of God, and themselves 
the ministers of Satan, speaking lies in hyprocisy, 
having their conscience seared as with a hot iron, 



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Satan 



daring in their exalted position to devitalize the 
Gospel of its power unto salvation, and dragging 
immortal souls after them into hell. 

It is not strange that there is resentment against 
the mystery of the cross which does not exist against 
any other inexplicable fact in the world. It is not 
strange that the ministers of Satan, appearing 
as the apostles of Christ and ministers of righteous- 
ness, should fortify their lies and hypocrisies by 
contending for almost every phase of revealed 
truth, grounding their authority so positively in the 
Scriptures of Truth ; yet subtly omitting, or vio- 
lently denying, the one and only point upon which 
the interests of God and Satan divide. It is not 
strange that there is a wide call for a "restatement 
of the truth,'' which usually proposes to omit the 
new birth and substitute self-effort to be good and 
character building in its place. It is not strange 
that the wise and cultured of this world feel their 
aesthetic natures shocked by the doctrine of re- 
demption by blood; yet entertain no sense of their 
own abhorrent pollution in the sight of the in- 
finitely holy One. It is not strange that the world 
assumes to have advanced beyond that which is 
repeatedly said to be the manifestation of the wis- 
dom of God; branding as bigots, insincere, or ig- 
norant, all who still hold to the whole testimony 
of God. It is not strange that the atonement by 
blood is omitted, for it is Satan's hour and the 
power of darkness. The child of God must bear the 
ever-increasing reproaches of his crucified Lord, un- 
til the glory dawns and the shadows flee away. 



CHAPTER X 



MODERN DEVICES 

IT has been the privilege and duty of the church 
throughout her history to be looking for the 
return of the One to whom she has been espoused. 
Had her eyes never wandered from that expectant 
gaze, she would have been saved much sorrow and 
shame at His coming, for she has lost her Scriptural 
character and much of her witnessing power when- 
ever she has said "My Lord delay eth his com- 
ing. " It is then that she has fallen to beating 
the manservants and the maidservants, and has be- 
come drunken with the wine of this world. 

True devotion to Christ must naturally issue 
in a deep desire to be with Him and to see Him 
face to face, and though it is quite possible to 
have been misled or untaught in regard to the 
conditions of His coming, the contemplation of 
such a promise from Him can but kindle a glow- 
ing hope in a truly devoted heart. It is a direct 
contradiction to claim supreme affection for Him, 
and yet be careless of His promised return, or 
wholly contented while separated from Him. The 
world, that cannot comprehend such devotion to 
Christ, will easily chide the believer, and denounce 
him for what they now call his "other worldness" 

125 



126 



Satan 



when his affections are set on things above "where 
Christ sitteth at the right hand of God," and when 
his heart rejoices in the certain hope that "when 
Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye 
also appear with him in glory. ' 1 

It was necessary for Satan to rob the church, 
to a great extent, of her "blessed hope' 7 of Christ's 
return, before he could attract attention to his 
own attempts at world improvement, and establish 
his own authority as ruler over this age. Expec- 
tation along the God-appointed lines must be aban- 
doned, for the most part, before humanity can be 
federated, and religious institutions be made to co- 
operate in the Satanic program. 

This vital key-truth of the imminent return of 
Christ was, therefore, first discredited, and then 
followed by an attack upon the deity of the Son 
of God and His sacrificial death : which attack is 
ever increasing, and must increase to the very end. 
The body of truth concerning the Lord's return 
is so extensive that there have always been some 
humble and devote souls who have dared to be- 
lieve His promises, and thus the real Church, to 
some extent, her watch has been keeping. 

The mighty tool in Satan's hands for the de- 
stroying of the hope of Christ's coming has been 
a simple one: zealous souls have been found who, 
ignoring the statements of the Scriptures, would 
attempt to fix the day of His coming. Then, as 
their prophecy failed of fulfilment, the world and 
many in the church have laughed them to scorn. 
Unfortunately they came to laugh also at the very 



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promise of God, saying, " Where is the promise of 
his coming ?" and in so doing they have fulfilled 
some of the very things that are predicted for 
the end of the age: "Knowing this first, that 
there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking 
after their own lusts [desires], and saying, Where 
is the promise of his coming ? for since the fathers 
fell asleep, all things continue as they were from 
the beginning of the creation" (2 Pet. 3:3, 4). 
Thus Satan's authority is being established. 

The exact time of Christ's return has not been 
revealed, nor will it be announced by a prophet. 
Nevertheless, the "children of light and the chil- 
dren of the day" "are not in darkness that that 
day should overtake them as a thief" (1 Thes. 
5:4, 5). It is their privilege to rejoice in every 
promise of His coming, and to recognize every new 
indication of His nearness as eagerly as the be- 
trothed awaits her beloved. The true believer's 
glory, as well as his union with loved ones in Christ, 
is imminent, and by faith he can look beyond the 
days of the earth's greatest anguish and, seeing the 
triumph of all blessedness, rejoice in the hope of 
his Lord's coming, and pray, "Even so, come, 
Lord Jesus." 

It is, therefore, impossible to know how much 
of time yet remains for the gathering out of the 
Bride and the development of Satan's rule; yet it is 
evident that within the last generation the exact ful- 
filment of those things which are predicted for the 
last days has begun, and is even now developing 
faster than the mind can comprehend. 



128 



Satan 



Not all the signs of the times have a place in 
these pages, but only such as are directly con- 
nected with the working of Satan. 

Since the blood redemption of the cross is the 
central truth and value of the true faith, it be- 
ing the " power of God unto salvation" (Rom. 
1:16; 1 Cor. 1:23, 24), any counterfeit system of 
doctrine which would omit this essential, must 
force some secondary truth into the place of promi- 
nence. Any of the great Scriptural subjects which 
are of universal interest to humanity, such as 
physical health, life after death, morality, unful- 
filled prophecy, or religious forms, may be sub- 
stituted in the false systems for that which is vital. 
And while those subjects are all found in their 
proper relations and importance in the true faith, 
the fact that people are universally inclined to 
give attention to them furnishes an opportunity for 
Satan to make a strong appeal to humanity through 
them; using these subjects as central truths in 
his false and counterfeit systems. Many are easily 
led to fix their attention upon the secondary things, 
and to neglect wholly the one primary thing. 
Especially is this true since the secondary things 
are tangible and seen; while the one essential 
thing is spiritual and unseen, and Satan has 
blinded their eyes toward that which is of eternal 
value. 

A system of doctrine may, then, be formed which 
includes every truth of the Scriptures save one; 
exalting the Person of Christ, but not His atoning 
work, and emphasizing some secondary truth as 



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129 



its central value. This system will be readily ac- 
cepted by blinded humanity, though the real power 
of God unto salvation has been carefully with- 
drawn. 

Naturally it would be supposed that such Satan- 
inspired systems would have no value or power, 
since there could be no divine favor upon them. 
Such a supposition would be possible only because 
of the prevailing misunderstanding as to the real 
power of Satan. If the description given of him in 
the Scriptures is accepted, he will be seen to be 
possessed with miraculous power; able to perform 
such marvels that the whole world is led to won- 
der and then to worship. He is free also to be- 
stow this miraculous power upon others (Rev. 
13:2). So it is no marvel if his ministers, who 
appear as the ministers of righteousness, are able 
to exert superhuman power when it is directly in 
the interest of the Satanic projects. 

The great power of Satan has doubtless been 
active along these lines during all the ages past; 
for it is impossible that humanity should have wor- 
shipped other gods blindly without some recom- 
pense, and it is Satan himself who has been thus 
worshipped (Lev. 17 : 7 ; 2 Chron. 11 : 15 ; Rev. 
9:20). 

It is not final evidence, therefore, that a system 
of doctrine is of God simply because there are ac- 
companying manifestations of superhuman power; 
nor is it final evidence that the Almighty has re- 
sponded, simply because any form of supplication 
has been answered. The divine movements are, of 



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Satan 



necessity, limited by the laws of His own holiness, 
and access into His presence is by the blood of 
Jesus alone, by a new and living Way which was 
consecrated for us through His flesh (Heb. 10: 19, 
20). Assuming to come before God in prayer, but 
ignoring this truth, is but to insult with pollution, 
Him who is infinitely holy and pure, Satan, who 
is aspiring to the place of the Almighty, may an- 
swer the prayer of his own subjects even though 
that prayer is blindly addressed to the Supreme 
Being. Surely the Satan-ruled world does not 
come before God by the blood of Jesus. 

Though false systems of doctrine have always 
existed, counterfeits in hypocrisy are a distinct 
characteristic of the last days of the present age. 
And it is a most significant fact that within the 
last generation such systems have appeared and 
are rapidly multiplying — systems that borrow 
every phase of the true faith, but one, and are 
conspicuous in that they emphasize some secondary 
truth with what seems, at times, to be miraculous 
power. Multitudes are being won to these creeds, 
both because of their apparent religious aspect, 
and by the actual results which they accomplish. 

There is probably no subject of more universal 
interest than that of physical health; and but re- 
cently " Christian Science," which chiefly em- 
phasizes physical health, has appeared. While it 
gathers into itself some elements that are foreign 
both to Christianity and to science, and appropri- 
ates much from the field of psychology, it assumes 
to be an infallible interpretation of the Scriptures, 



Modern Devices 



and makes Jesus its highest exponent and teacher. 
Yet it positively denies even the reality of sin and 
the need of Christ 's atoning sacrifice. Its followers 
are won and held by its religions claims, and by the 
actual physical and mental transformations that 
are secured. Nothing but ignorance will attempt 
to deny that, to some extent, its claims are real. 
That it has assemblies, ministers, and mysteries 
deep and profound, and that it is able to demon- 
strate its claims of physical transformation, does 
not lift it above the level of Satan's power. That 
it denies even the need of the blood of the cross, 
separates it, in spite of its claims, from the God 
of the Scriptures, and brands it with every char- 
acteristic of Satan's counterfeit. 

Another subject, already mentioned, which is of 
common interest to humanity, is that of life after 
death. How persistently man has sought to see 
beyond the veil! And yet how little of fact has 
been discovered, beyond that which it has pleased 
God to reveal in His Word! How strong is the 
desire of the heart to follow the departed into 
the great unseen! And how subtle is " Spiritism" 
in its election of the question of a future state as 
its bait to beguile sorrow-crushed souls into a 
disregard of their only hope in the blood of Christ ! 

This system has existed from the earliest ages 
and has the unqualified condemnation of the Bible ; 
yet in the last half-century it has taken new in- 
terest and dignity to itself under the modern title 
of "Psychical Research." With boldest assump- 
tion it claims to be the only safe exponent of truth, 



132 



Satan 



and to be working in the interests of science — 
changing science being accepted as more trust- 
worthy than revelation. 

Less is made of the Scriptures in this system 
than in Christian Science. Yet here, as might 
be expected, there is violent opposition to the doc- 
trine of redemption from sin. 

" Spiritism' ' bases its claims on the supposed 
testimony of departed spirits and it cannot be 
denied but that there is an intelligent response to 
the human appeal from the unseen, and messages 
are being received and mysterious acts are being 
performed with increasing frequency. It cannot 
be proven, however, that this response is from the 
spirit of the person named, for a lying spirit could 
easily know enough of any person's life to repre- 
sent him in every detail. That the whole system 
could be of Satan is evident, and since it denies 
man's only hope of redemption, it is no part of 
the real truth of God. It, too, bears all the marks 
of the workings of Satan. 

Another system of thought called "New," but 
which is as old as human philosophy, appropriates 
every phase of metaphysical belief. The central 
idea of "New Thought" is the complete develop- 
ment of man, — body, soul, and spirit. Every pos- 
sible human power is utilized; there is recogni- 
tion of the Creator ; the Word of God is appropri- 
ated in convenient texts ; and Christ is claimed by 
its followers to be the complete example and em- 
bodiment of all their ideals. Newly stated theo- 
ries of psychology are included -in this system, and 



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133 



the whole teaching stands as the embodiment of 
all the ideals of the one who first suggested to 
humanity that they, by their own efforts, become 
as gods. The system wholly denies Scriptural re- 
generation, both as to its necessity and as a fact; 
and is a veritable worship of self, as predicted for 
the last days (2 Tim. 3:2). It substitutes the de- 
velopment of the will as a power for victory in 
the life, in place of the God-provided victory over 
sin by the Spirit. Its followers seem to be ut- 
terly blind to the plainest truths of the Scriptures, 
and are marvelling at what they suppose to be a 
discovery, when, perchance, they are able to com- 
prehend some secondary truth of the Word of God. 
This system, like "Christian Science," numbers its 
followers by the hundreds of thousands. They 
support many periodicals, and their teachings are 
read and accepted throughout the world. 

There is also another system known as ' 1 Millennial 
Dawnism," and by other organization names, which 
relies upon its interpretation of prophecy to secure 
the interest of its followers. There is universal in- 
terest in the future, and by means of Millennial 
Dawnism, Satan is covering the most erroneous 
teachings concerning salvation and the Person and 
work of Christ through an emphasis upon the 
prophetic Scriptures which satisfies the natural 
craving for knowledge concerning "things to 
come. ' ' 

In all these doctrines there is included much 
of the precious truth of God, but this is employed 
only as a bait to cover the relentless hook of Satan, 



134 



Satan 



by which he seeks to draw human souls away from 
God and into perdition. Not one positive word is 
said of the future state of man, or of his fitness to 
meet his God, and any belief in immortality is bor- 
rowed from the revelation of God ; for the systems 
themselves are given over to distracting and divert- 
ing man from the thought of his need of a divinely 
wrought preparation for eternity. It is commonly 
stated by the followers of these systems that it is of 
little importance what one believes, for it is the 
life that counts. Thus the great and necessary 
fact that any true character as well as salvation 
depends upon what one believes, rather than on 
the life, is discredited. 

These systems are mentioned only as examples of 
the almost innumerable doctrines that are sweeping 
the world to-day. They often reappear under new 
and misleading titles. The truth they acknowl- 
edge, and many forces they employ, are, in their 
right relationships, God's gracious provision for 
His saints; yet when these truths and forces are 
used alone, where the real purpose of God is skill- 
fully omitted, they become only the hypocrisy that 
covers and garnishes a lie. 

Again, many are deluded by the emphasis upon 
the mere outward forms of the visible church. 
When these forms are analyzed, they appear to 
represent a church ministered to by a recognized 
ordained minister who depends upon his own per- 
sonality for his power; and who preaches ethics 
and morality drawn from Scripture texts and other 
ethical writings. Prayers are offered, imploring 



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135 



the Almighty to aid humanity in its attempts to 
commend itself to Him by a more or less faithful 
practice of religion. The pleasures of music as 
an art are provided at extravagant cost, in place 
of the praise that is inspired by the Spirit of God. 
Social gatherings are held, to take the place of 
the unity of the Spirit and the love of the brethren. 
Humanitarian appeals for the betterment of the 
world are made, in place of the evangelical regen- 
eration by the cross; and not one reference to the 
real Gospel is made from one year to the next, 
unless it be in a covered denial. The sleeping con- 
gregations are seemingly satisfied with a mockery 
of the truth, and are content with a doctrine which 
proposes to educate souls into hell, and which en- 
courages them to make a few efforts toward self- 
development while on their certain road to perdi- 
tion. It is no longer good form in society to be 
without some church relationships, yet the one and 
only true basis for salvation may never have been 
comprehended or accepted by a multitude of these 
members. Truly the god of this world is accom- 
plishing his end, and his blinded followers are 
coming to be numbered with the faithful. The evil 
birds are flocking to the mustard tree, and the 
corrupting leaven is permeating the measures of 
meal. 

The last development of the earth history of the 
visible church is predicted to be a condition in 
which she is saying, "I am rich, and increased 
with goods, and have need of nothing." The 
passage continues, "and knowest not that thou art 



Satan 



wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and 
naked. I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in 
the fire, that you mayest be rich; and white rai- 
ment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the 
shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint 
thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see. As 
many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zeal- 
ous therefore, and repent. Behold, I stand at the 
door and knock: if any man hear my voice, and 
open the door, I will come in to him, and will 
sup with him, and he with me" (Rev. 3:17-20). 
If Scripture language and figure mean anything, 
this is a description of an unregenerate church 
over which the Lord is pleading. It is from this 
church that He has withdrawn, and is seen out- 
side, standing and knocking. His hope is not cen- 
tered upon reforming the whole mass of professing 
members, for His offer is to the individual "any 
man" with whom He will then have personal com- 
munion and fellowship. 

Sad is the spectacle of these churches, meeting 
week after week to be beguiled by the philosophy 
of men, and raising no voice in protest against 
the denial of their only foundation as a church, 
and of their only hope for time and eternity ! Far 
more honorable were the infidels of the past gen- 
eration than these ministers. They were wholly 
outside the church. But now, behold the incon- 
sistency! Men who are covered by the vesture of 
the church, ministering its sacraments, and sup- 
ported by its benevolence, are making an open at- 
tack upon that wisdom of God which made Christ 



Modern Devices 



137 



Jesus the only ground for all righteousness, sancti- 
fication, and redemption. The predictions for the 
last days are thus not only being fulfilled by false 
systems and doctrines, but they are found in the 
visible church itself. "For the time will come 
when they will not endure sound doctrine ; but 
after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves 
teachers, having itching ears; and they shall turn 
away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned 
unto fables'' (2 Tim. 4:3, 4). 

Great religious activities are possible without 
coming into complications with saving faith. It 
is possible to be more concerned over the untimely 
death of one hundred thousand drunkards than 
with the Christless death of twenty million human 
beings, or to be wholly concerned with the educa- 
tional and physical needs of the heathen and to 
neglect their greatest need in regeneration. Thus 
Satan may gain his own ends, even through some 
so-called missionary undertakings, for in this man- 
ner he can beguile untaught saints to limit their 
work to the lines of his highest ideals. It is pos- 
sible to fight against sin and not present the 
Saviour, or to urge the highest Scriptural ideals 
and yet offer no reasonable way of attainment. 

There is a strange fascination about these un- 
dertakings which are humanitarian, and are re- 
ligious only in form and title. And there is a 
strange attractiveness in the leader who announces 
that he is not concerned with the doctrines of the 
Bible, because the helping of humanity is his one 
passion and care : yet all his passion is lost and his 



138 



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care is to no real end unless coupled with a very 
positive message of a particular way of salvation, 
the true understanding of which demands a series 
of most careful distinctions. 

Recently the word " pragmatism " has been 
brought into popular use to denote the test by 
which the pragmatists measure all systems, theories 
and doctrines. The pragmatic inquiry when ap- 
plied to any system, theory, or doctrine may be un- 
derstood to mean, "does it meet its claims in prac- 
tice?" Although much is being made of this phase 
of pragmatism, the test is as old as the race, and is 
verified by the Bible, for Jesus said, "By their 
fruits ye shall know them." However, the burden 
of testing claims has never before been so great, 
for the world was never so filled with new and 
strange theories as now. And these modern sys- 
tems that deny true salvation in Christ are grow- 
ing mightily under this test. They offer com- 
paratively little and are usually able to meet their 
claims. "Christian Science" does, to some ex- 
tent, change the condition of mind and body. 
"Spiritism" offers demonstrations from the in- 
visible, and the demonstrations appear. "New 
Thought" proposes a development of the whole 
natural man, and thrives by the practical test of 
"pragmatism." The same is true of all other 
similar systems and doctrines, and will be true of 
those that may yet appear, since it is the very 
program of Satan as it is revealed in his last blas- 
phemous counterfeit of the Son of God; for it is 
written in Rev. 13 : 3, 4 that they first wondered 



Modern Devices 



139 



at the miracles of the "Beast," and then wor- 
shipped. Woe to the untaught soul who stands 
wondering to-day at the marvels of this evil age, 
if he be without a sense of the importance and 
value of the priceless blood of the cross! The 
step is not far for such an one to the place 
where he falls in worship — worship of a being who 
is supposed to have forgotten abhorrence of sin 
and abandoned all eternal covenants of mercy by 
blood alone; a being who is supposed to be glad that 
the world has outgrown the old unbearable esti- 
mates of sin and redemption, the abiding difference 
between the saved and the unsaved, and into whose 
presence the worshipper is supposed to be free to 
come on the ground of his fallen human nature, 
and on the ground of the "universal fatherhood 
of God and the universal brotherhood of man." 

The new situation consists in the attempt of 
the enemy to keep the outward form of our faith, 
quoting Scripture and eulogizing Christ, but deny- 
ing every word of saving grace. This gigantic 
monster of confusion began in Germany and has 
been largely accepted over the civilized earth. 
Germany's military conquest is small compared 
with her spiritual conquest. Her armies may be 
defeated, but her unbelief is cursing the world. 
These "doctrines of devils " which devitalize truth 
by denying redemption through the blood of Christ 
were all predicted and were to be God's sign to us 
of the presence of the ''last days." What more 
evidence do we need that these days are already 
here? 



140 



Satan 



Who can be the god of these systems? the ener- 
gizing power in these people ? and the answerer of 
their prayers? Surely not the God of the Scrip- 
tures who cannot deny Himself, and whose word 
cannot be made to pass away! Revelation sets 
forth but one other being who is capable of these 
undertakings; and it not only assigns to this be- 
ing a great and sufficient motive for all such ac- 
tivity, but clearly predicts that he will thus "op- 
pose" and "exalt himself" in this very day and 
age. 

Much of the secondary truth is the present in- 
heritance of the child of God. However, if there is 
a choice to be made the deepest wisdom will per- 
ceive that all the combined secondary values which 
Satan can offer are but for a fleeting time, and 
are not worthy to be compared with the eternal 
riches of grace in Christ Jesus. 



CHAPTER XI 



THE BELIEVER'S PRESENT POSITION 

SINCE the Bible contains God's message to the 
people of all ages, it must be rightly divided 
if the body of truth concerning any particular age 
or people is to be clearly understood. There are, 
undoubtedly, many things in common in the vari- 
ous ages, and because of that fact the superficial 
use of the Scriptures has been to treat the entire 
Book as a direct message to all people of all time. 
This method, as has been stated, has resulted in 
great confusion concerning the divine program. 

When that portion of the Bible which directly 
applies to the present age has been discovered, that, 
too, must be divided; for the present time is a 
period of mixture among the people of the earth — 
the saints of God tenting among the citizens of the 
Satanic system, and having nothing in common with 
them beyond the ordinary things of this earth 
life. 

Again, that particular body of truth which ap- 
plies to the child of God in this age may be divided, 
and a portion be called "positional truth'' be- 
cause it unfolds the believer's present relation to 
the Godhead, the heavenlies, and the present world : 
while another portion may be known as "life 



142 



Satan 



X truth ' ' because it specifically sets forth the be- 
liever s present responsibility in conduct and serv- 
ice, and also includes the provisions of God whereby 
the saved one may fully accomplish the whole will 
of God. A partial study of life truth is reserved 
for the next and last chapter, while this chapter 
is to be devoted to the believer's present position 
and separation from the world. 

The importance of positional truth is suggested 
by the fact that in several contexts of the Scrip- 
tures where it is treated, it precedes the state- 
ment of life truth, forming the basis of its appeal. 
As an illustration of this it may be seen that the 
order of the doctrinal Epistles is first, to state a 
great positional truth which is then followed by 
an appeal for a life consistent with the truth re- 
vealed. The first section of the book of Eomans 
(Chapters 1-8) sets forth the fact of salvation 
which is the work of God alone. This is followed 
(omitting the dispensation al parenthesis of Chap- 
ters 9-11) by the closing section (Chapters 12-16), 
which is a detailed description of the life a saved 
person should live, and opens with this appeal: 
"I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies 
of God, that ye present your bodies a living sac- 
rifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your 
reasonable service. And be not conformed to this 
world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of 
your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, 
and acceptable, and perfect, will of God." So, in 
the first section of the letter to the Ephesians 
(Chapters 1-3), the believer's position is unfolded, 



The Believer's Present Position 143 

and this is followed by a section (Chapters 4-6), 
which is a series of injunctions for a heavenly walk. 
This section opens as follows: "I therefore, the 
prisoner of the Lord, beseech you that ye walk 
worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called, 
with all lowliness and meekness, with longsuffering, 
forbearing one another in love ; endeavoring to keep 
the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace/' No 
appeal for faithfulness in the Christian life will 
be found to be adequate or effective that does not 
follow this same order, or that is not based upon 
some revealed fact of the new life in Christ. It is 
probable that the present neglect and disregard of 
positional truth has, in spite of moral exhortation, 
borne its legitimate fruit in a time-serving worldly 
church. 

It is a beautiful example of the harmony of the 
Scriptures that, while the evil of the present age 
is so clearly described, the true child of God is 
most carefully separated from its relationships, and 
is seen to be in a position so independent of all the 
authority of the world that he may walk with the 
Lord in unbroken communion and fellowship, even 
while surrounded by this spiritual darkness. And, 
though the Scriptural statements as to the ever- 
increasing darkness of this age be rejected, no 
meaning can be given to these passages which sepa- 
rate the believer from this world without the recog- 
nition of the black background of the failure and 
sinfulness of this age. It is noticeable that the 
modern systems take no notice of the difference be- 
tween the saved and the unsaved, as they also make 



144 



Satan 



little of the future state. This is in accordance with 
the fact that both of these truths are wholly de- 
pendent upon regeneration; and that is the one 
truth which false systems were originated by Satan 
to resist. 

The Bible presents the widest distinction between 
the saved and the unsaved. The distinction is fun- 
damental. The Bible teaches that the unsaved are 
dead in trespasses and sins, while the saved possess 
a new divine life (Eph. 2:1, 2) ; the unsaved are 
energized by Satan (Eph. 2:2), while the saved 
are energized by God (Phil. 2:13); the unsaved 
are in the power of darkness, while the saved are 
translated into the kingdom of God's dear Son 
(Col. 1:13) ; the unsaved are asleep in the arms 
of the wicked one (1 John 5: 19), while the saved 
are safe in the hand of God (John 10 : 29) and hid 
in Christ (Col. 3:3). It is significant that this 
important body of truth never appears in any one 
of the Satanic counterfeit systems of faith to-day. 

The Christian has been placed in at least thirty- 
three positions in his relation to God in salvation, 
seven of which are considered here. Three to be 
named concern his change from the darkness of 
Satan to the light of God ; two concern his relation- 
ship to the heavenly sphere; and two concern his 
relationship to the Satanic order. A careful study 
of all the passages in which the positions are un- 
folded will reveal the great reality of redemption. 1 

i A complete treatment of all the believer's positions re- 
sulting from the work of God in redemption will be found 
in the author's book, "Salvation " 



The Believer's Present Position 145 

The first divine movement toward the salvation 
of an individual, after the prayer of intercession 
through the Spirit, is illumination by the Spirit. 
This same work is also mentioned as the "con- 
victing" or " convincing ' ' of the Spirit. In this 
part of the divine undertaking the blinding by 
Satan is removed and the soul beholds, by divine 
vision, the Lord of glory and the way into eternal 
life through Him. 

This illuminating work of the Spirit is men- 
tioned by Paul in his words to King Agrippa, 
wherein he describes his own commission to service. 
He claimed to have been appointed by the Lord 
who spoke to him from the Glory. He relates that 
by this commission he was sent "to open their 
eyes, and to turn them from darkness to light, and 
from the power of Satan unto God, that they may 
receive forgiveness of sins, and inheritance among 
them which are sanctified by faith that is in me" 
(Acts 26:18). This is the exact order of the 
divine movements in redemption. The illumina- 
tion of the Spirit is placed before everything else. 
There is probably no more neglected truth in mod- 
ern evangelism than this preliminary work of the 
Spirit: yet it is the divine preparation for the 
intelligent action of the human will, and if the 
right choice is made it unveils the eyes for time 
and eternity. 

This important illuminating work of the Spirit 
is more fully described in John 16 : 8-11 as being 
a revelation of the judgment, by the cross, of 
all sin and condemnation; the vision of the glori- 



146 



Satan 



ous righteous Christ, now in heaven ; and the real- 
ization of the sin of rejecting Him. The passage 
is here given: "Nevertheless I tell yon the truth; 
it is expedient for you that I go away: for if I 
go not away, the Comforter will not come unto 
you; but if I depart, I will send him unto you. 
And when he is come, he will reprove [convince] 
the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of 
judgment : of sin, because they believe not on me ; 
of righteousness, because I go to my Father, and 
ye see me no more; of judgment, because the 
prince of this world is judged/' The true child of 
God is, then, one in whom the Spirit has wrought 
in lifting the blinding by Satan and revealing to 
some extent, even now, the surpassing glory of 
Christ. Sin, too, has become a reality, and the 
cross and the precious blood have become the basis 
of his confidence toward his God. 

Another revelation concerning the present posi- 
tion of the believer is that he has partaken of the 
divine nature through regeneration by the Spirit. 
This truth is stated in many passages, a few of 
which are here given: "But as many as received 
him, to them gave he power to become the sons of 
God, even to them that believe on his name : which 
were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the 
flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God" (John 
1:12, 13). "Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say 
unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of 
the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. 
That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that 
which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Marvel not 



The Believer's Present Position 147 



that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again. 
The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hear- 
est the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it 
cometh, and whither it goeth : so is every one that 
is born of the Spirit" (John 3 : 5-8). CC I am come 
that they might have life, and that they might 
have it more abundantly" (John 10 : 10). "For in 
Christ Jesus neither circumcision availeth any- 
thing, nor uncircumcision, but a new creature" 
(Gal. 6:15). "Not by works of righteousness 
which we have done, but according to his mercy 
he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and 
renewing of the Holy Ghost" (Titus 3:5). 
"Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new 
creature: old things are passed away; behold, 
all things are become new" (2 Cor. 5:17). 
"Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and 
precious promises : that by these ye might be par- 
takers of the divine nature, having escaped the 
corruption that is in the world through lust" (2 
Pet. 1:4). 

The reality of this mighty transformation is in 
no way evident in present visible things, but must 
be accepted by faith. It is no less than a transla- 
tion from the kingdom of Satan into the kingdom 
of Christ, "who hath delivered us from the power 
of darkness, and hath translated us into the king- 
dom of his dear Son" (Col. 1:13). And by it 
one is said to be delivered from this present evil 
age: "Who gave himself for our sins, that he 
might deliver us from this present evil world 
[age]. According to the will of God and our 



148 



Satan 



Father" (Gal. 1:4), and, also, according to the 
above passage, ' ' to have escaped the corruption that 
is in the world" (Satanic system). 

The new life that is thus imparted is none other 
than the very life of Christ: "Now if any man 
have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his" 
(Rom. 8:9). "To whom God would make known 
what is the riches of the glory of this mystery 
among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the 
hope of glory" (Col. 1:27). "I live; yet not I, 
but Christ liveth in me" (Gal. 2: 20). "Examine 
yourselves, whether ye be in the faith ; prove your 
own selves. Know ye not your own selves, how 
that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be repro- 
bates?" (2 Cor. 13:5)/ 

The third great fact of the believer's present po- 
sition in separation from this world is that the 
Holy Spirit is given unto him, at the moment of 
his regeneration, to indwell him, in place of the 
energizing power of Satan who "worketh" with en- 
ergy in the children of disobedience : 1 1 The love of 
God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy 
Ghost which is given unto us" (Rom. 5:5). "Now 
we have received, not the spirit of the world, but 
the Spirit which is of God; that we might know 
the things that are freely given to us of God" (1 
Cor. 2: 12). "What? know ye not that your body 
is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, 
which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?" 
(1 Cor. 6:19). 

Another phase of the believer's position is re- 
vealed in the fact that he is said to be a citizen 



The Believer's Present Position 149 



of heaven; his home center or citizenship having 
been moved there from the earth. His name would, 
therefore, appear only among the celestial beings, 
in any true census of the universe. The reality of 
this unseen relationship is brought out in several 
passages : "For our citizenship is in heaven ; from 
whence also we wait for a Saviour, the Lord Jesus 
Christ: who shall fashion anew the body of our 
humiliation, that it may be conformed to the body 
of his glory, according to the working whereby he 
is able even to subject all things unto himself" 
(Phil. 3:20, R, V.). "For ye know that if our 
earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we 
have a building of God, an house not made with 
hands, eternal in the heavens. For in this we 
groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed upon with 
our house which is from heaven: if so be that be- 
ing clothed we shall not be found naked. For 
we that are in this tabernacle do groan, being bur- 
dened: not for that we would be unclothed, but 
clothed upon, that mortality might be swallowed 
up of life. Now he that hath wrought us for the 
selfsame thing is God, who also hath given unto 
us the earnest of the Spirit. Therefore we are 
always confident, knowing that, whilst we are at 
home in the body, we are absent from the Lord: 
(For we walk by faith, not by sight:) we are con- 
fident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from 
the body, and to be present with the Lord" (2 
Cor. 5:1-8). 

Again, as to the believer's position in that which 
is termed in Ephesians "the heavenly places," — 



150 



Satan 



though the supplying of the word "places" is 
misleading. The meaning of the word "heavenly" 
is not so much of locality as of experience: as is 
indicated by the use of the same word in other 
passages where the believer is said to be "heavenly' ' 
in standing and relationship (Heb. 3:1; Eph. 2 : 6. 
See also Matt. 18:35; John 3:12; 1 Cor. 15:48). 

Dr. C. I. Scofield makes the following statement 
on this important phase of the believer's position: 

"The Christian is 'heavenly' by calling (Heb. 
3:1), by citizenship (Phil. 3:20), by inheritance 
(1 Pet. 1:4) and by resurrection life (Eph. 2:6), 
as a member of that body of which the Head is ac- 
tually in heaven. The heavenly (or 'in heavenly 
places/) therefore, is the sphere of the believer's 
present association with Christ. This is shown 
by the constant context, 'in Christ Jesus.' The 
believer is now associated with Christ in life (Col. 
3:4; 1 John 5:11, 12), position (Eph. 2:6), suf- 
fering (Rom. 8:18; 2 Tim. 2:11, 12; Col. 1:24; 
Phil. 1:29); service, (John 17:18; Matt. 28:18- 
20), and betrothal (2 Cor. 11:1-3). 

"The believer is to be associated with Christ in 
glory (John 17:22; Rom. 8:18; Col. 3:4), in- 
heritance (Rom. 8:17), authority (Matt. 19:28; 
Rev. 3:21), and marriage (Eph. 5:22, 33; Rev. 
19:1-9). 

"The believer's 'spiritual blessings' (Eph. 1: 3), 
therefore, are to be possessed or experienced only 
as he lives in the sphere of his joint life, joint 
position, joint suffering, joint service and joint 
marriage pledge with Christ. In so far as he lives 



The Believer's Present Position 151 



as a natural man whose interests are earthly, and 
avoids the path of co-service and (if need be) co- 
suffering, he will know nothing experimentally of 
the exalted blessing of Ephesians. 'It is sufficient 
that the servant be as his Master.' Christ took 
account of Himself as a heavenly Being come down 
to earth to do His Father's will." (Scofield Bible 
Correspondence Course, Book 2; page 288.) 

Thus it may be seen that the believer is not only 
a citizen of heaven, but that he has also been 
brought into a position where many privileges of 
the heavenly experience are open to him. 

In like manner, the believer's position in rela- 
tion to this world is not only a separation from the 
world by nature and purpose ; but he is also said to 
be a stranger and a pilgrim among the inhabitants 
of this dark age. "But ye are a chosen genera- 
tion, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar 
people; that ye should shew forth the praises of 
him who hath called you out of darkness into his 
marvellous light: which in time past were not a 
people, but are now the people of God: which had 
not obtained mercy, but now have obtained mercy. 
Dearly beloved, I beseech you as strangers and 
pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts, which war 
against the soul; having your conversation hon- 
est among the Gentiles" (1 Pet. 2:9-12). The 
same expression of "strangers and pilgrims" is 
used, also, in regard to the faith descendants of 
Abraham: "These all died in faith, not having 
received the promises, but having seen them afar 
off, and were persuaded of them, and embraced 



152 



Satan 



them, and confessed that they were strangers and 
pilgrims on the earth" (Heb. 11:13). This same 
wide difference between the people of this world 
and the people of God is also stated in passages 
where the world is understood to be the system over 
which Satan now rules: "He that loveth his life 
shall lose it; and he that hateth his life in this 
world [Satanic system] shall keep it unto life eter- 
nal 57 (John 12:25). "Ye adulterers and adulter- 
esses, know ye not that the friendship of the world 
is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a 
friend of the world [Satanic system] is the enemy 
of God" (Jas. 4:4). "Love not the world [&*- 
tonic system], neither the things that are in the 
world. If any man love the world, the love of the 
Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, 
the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and 
the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the 
world. And the world passeth away, and the lust 
thereof : but he that doeth the will of God abideth 
forever" (1 John 2 : 15-17). 

The word "lust" constantly used in description 
of the Satanic system has a much larger meaning in 
the Scriptures than its present popular use, where 
it refers only to that which is sensual. In these 
quoted passages it refers to the whole Satan-in- 
spired ambition of humanity, and includes their 
principle of self-help, and their struggle for all 
that is highest and best to them. The lust of the 
world is unlawful, because it disregards the truth 
of God ; and it is related to that which is physical, 



The Believer's Present Position 153 



because it magnifies the finite being and its re- 
sources. 

Two other striking passages concerning the re- 
lation of the believer to the world are here given: 
"Herein is our love made perfect, that we may 
have boldness in the day of judgment: because as 
he is, so are we in this world [Satanic system}" 
(1 John 4:17). "As thou hast sent me into the 
world [Satanic system], even so have I also sent 
them into the world [Satanic system}" (John 
17:18). 

The last revelation concerning the believer's po- 
sition to be mentioned here, is in regard to his 
service for the world. The unbounded love of God 
has called him into fellowship with Christ in the 
great work of this age ; and in that connection he 
is under commission to evangelize, by a process of 
witnessing, to the uttermost parts of the world. 
The language of the inspired Book describes such 
witnesses as "Ambassadors for Christ": "Now 
then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God 
did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ's 
stead, be ye reconciled to God" (2 Cor. 5:20). 
And the ambassador's message is also given in the 
next verse of the same passage: "For he hath 
made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin ; that 
we might be made the righteousness of God in 
him" (we who knew no righteousness). 

Nowhere does the saint need more definite teach- 
ing of the Spirit than in regard to the relation 
he sustains to this world. In spite of the similar- 



154 



Satan 



ity of his earth-life to that of the world's people, 
he must reckon himself to be dead in Christ and 
raised to newness of life. Expecting the world to 
misunderstand him and even to hate him, he must 
wisely walk before them who are " without.' 9 He 
is called upon to 4 'use this world but not to abuse 
it"; and that which is of itself pure and good may 
become undesirable to him at times, because its use 
would further the interests of Satan. 

Some have taken the extreme position of assign- 
ing to Satan the material universe and everything 
that is in the world to-day, not recognizing the 
fact that no material or physical thing is evil of 
itself. God created all things good. Satan has 
created nothing, and his present relation to the 
world is only as a permitted usurper who appro- 
priates and devastates the things of God in the 
interests of his own ambition. He is the file-leader 
in a great rebellion against the government of 
God ; but the natural universe belongs primarily to 
God, the Creator; and by title of inheritance, it 
belongs also, to the child of God, as it is written, 
"Therefore let no man glory in men. For all 
things are yours; whether Paul, or Apollos, or 
Cephas, or the world, or life, or death, or things 
present, or things to come; all are yours; and ye 
are Christ's; and Christ is God's" (1 Cor. 3: 
21-23). Yet, since Satan is making use of many 
good things to cover his evil purpose, the child of 
God must, for the present, discern the hidden evil 
and in loyalty to his Lord reject everything that 
may further the workings of Satan. The Bible is 



The Believer's Present Position 155 



very clear on this point, and discusses one issue as 
an example of all similar issues. This discussion in 
Scripture is about food which of itself is perfectly 
good, but may be a means of great harm when as- 
sociated with the purposes of evil. The passages 
are as follows: "Let us not therefore judge one 
another any more: but judge this rather, that no 
man put a stumbling block or an occasion to fall in 
his brother's way. I know, and am persuaded by 
the Lord Jesus, that there is nothing unclean of 
itself : but to him that esteemeth anything to be 
unclean, to him it is unclean. But if thy brother 
be grieved with thy meat, now walkest thou not 
charitably. Destroy not him with thy meat, for 
whom Christ died. Let not then your good be evil 
spoken of : for the kingdom of God is not meat and 
drink; but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the 
Holy Ghost. For he that in these things serveth 
Christ is acceptable to God, and approved of men. 
Let us therefore follow after the things which make 
for peace, and things wherewith one may edify an- 
other. For meat destroy not the work of God. All 
things indeed are pure ; but it is evil for that man 
who eateth with offence. It is good neither to eat 
flesh, nor to drink wine, nor anything whereby thy 
brother stumbleth, or is offended, or is made weak'' 
(Rom. 14:13-21). "What say I then? that the 
idol is anything, or that which is offered in sacri- 
fice to idols is anything? But I say, that the 
things which the Gentiles sacrifice, they sacrifice 
to devils and not to God : and I would not that ye 
should have fellowship with devils. Ye cannot 



i 5 6 



Satan 



drink the enp of the Lord, and the cup of devils : 
ye cannot be partakers of the Lord's table, and of 
the table of devils. Do we provoke the Lord to 
jealousy? are we stronger than he? All things are 
lawful for me, but all things are not expedient : 
all things are lawful for me. but all things edify 
not. Let no man seek his own, but every man an- 
other's wealth. Whatsoever is sold in the sham- 
bles, that eat, asking no question for conscience 
sake: for the earth is the Lord's, and the fulness 
thereof. If any of them that believe not bid you 
to a feast, and ye be disposed to go ; whatsoever 
is set before you. eat. asking no question for con- 
science sake. But if any man say unto you, This is 
offered in sacrifice unto idols, eat not for his sake 
that shewed it. and for conscience sake: for the 
earth is the Lord's and the fulness thereof: con- 
science, I say, not thine own. but of the other: for 
why is my liberty judged of another man's con- 
science ? For if I by grace be a partaker, why am 
I evil spoken of for that for which I give thanks? 
"Whether therefore ye eat. or drink, or whatsoever 
ye do, do all to the glory of God. Give none of- 
fence, neither to the Jews, nor to the Gentiles, nor 
to the church of God: even as I please all men in 
all things, not seeking mine own profit, but the 
profit of many, that they may be saved" (1 Cor. 
10: 19-33 x . 

The question becomes a practical one, in view of 
the present progress in discovery, science, and psy- 
chology. A theory must not be rejected because it 



The Believer's Present Position 157 

is new or mysterious ; for the marvellous inventions 
of the age are often as useful in spreading the Gos- 
pel as in furthering the interests of Satan. The 
newly acquired knowledge of the universe may be 
as valuable to the progress of good as to the ad- 
vancement of evil. 

There can be but one final test as to what shall 
be accepted and what shall be rejected, and that 
must be made by the individual alone before God 
(Rom. 14: 22). In connection with any such ques- 
tion we may ask, "Is the real work of redemption 
hindered, or its true basis rejected? Is this a di- 
rect denial of the truth, by which souls will be hin- 
dered, or is it a counterfeit which may decoy them 
away from their only hope in the priceless blood 
of the cross ?" Beyond this, a child of God may 
safely be "all things to all men that he may save 
some." 

The Christian can see more of beauty in the 
world, make larger use of its learning, and more 
fully appreciate its good, than can the children of 
this age : yet he must now, above all things else, be 
content with his limited commission, and be jealous 
for the interests of his Lord. Much of his present 
perplexity would be relieved if he could but realize 
that he is temporarily tenting where an enemy 
rules, and where he is the object of that enemy's 
fiery darts, yet hedged about by the omnipotence 
of God; called to bear the one message of redemp- 
tion by the cross, in the capacity and hidden dig- 
nity of an ambassador from the throne of the Most 



i 5 8 



Satan 



High ; even now possessing a glory which shall soon 
be unveiled in the presence of his Lord ; and wait- 
ing for that morning when his Lord shall come 
again and receive him unto Himself. 

The Christian's position, then, is one of absolute 
security because of his vital union with Christ, the 
infinite power of the Spirit, and the unfailing grace 
of God. Yet it is permitted that the child of God 
shall be the target of the "fiery darts of the wicked 
one." It is revealed that, to some extent, his pres- 
ent strength and future reward are the result of 
this unceasing warfare. The conflict is real; but 
beyond it all there is the revelation that these eter- 
nal positions can never be moved. If they de- 
pended in the slightest degree upon the merit of 
any man they could never be attained, and much 
less maintained. They remain because they are 
founded on the unchanging and unchangeable 
Person of the Lord Jesus Christ. 



CHAPTER XII 



THE BELIEVER^ PRESENT VICTORY 

N exalted position is usually accompanied by 



according to the Scriptures, in the case of the be- 
liever in his heavenly position. For when he is 
seen as a citizen of heaven, and a partaker of those 
associations, he is also required both by Scripture 
and by reason to "walk worthy of the calling 
wherewith he is called. " The statement of these 
heavenly demands upon the child of God forms a 
distinct body of truth, and there are at least three 
such bodies of truth in the Bible, each appearing as 
a rule of conduct for some special people in some 
particular time. The Mosaic Law was given pri- 
marily to God's ancient people through Moses; but 
it has a message still, as it reflects the holiness of 
God and prepares for the salvation which is in 
Christ. In like manner the "Sermon on the 
Mount" with the injunctions of John the Baptist 
and the early teachings of Christ were given with 
the coming kingdom age in view and, therefore, 
form an important revelation in regard to that time 
when "all shall know the Lord from the least unto 
the greatest." Though there are some common 
principles running through all these separate teach- 




This is certainly true, 



i6o 



Satan 



ingSj those Scriptures which apply directly to the 
people of this parenthetical age of the Church will 
be found only in portions of the Gospels, and in the 
Epistles of the New Testament. 

No appreciation of the provisions of God for a 
victorious life can be had until the demands which 
the believer's position imposes are realized. These 
demands are in no way the standards of the world, 
for the believer is not only a citizen of heaven in 
position, but is called upon even now to fulfil all 
the standards of that sphere. As an illustration of 
this fact, a few of these heavenly ideals and in- 
junctions are given here: "I beseech you there- 
fore, brethren, by the mercies of God. that ye pre- 
sent your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable 
unto God, which is your reasonable service" (Rom. 
12:1). "Rejoice evermore. Pray without ceas- 
ing. In everything give thanks: for this is the 
will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you." . . . 
"Abstain from all appearance of evil" (1 Thes. 
5 : 16-18, 22). "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, 
joy, peace, longsuffering. gentleness, goodness, 
faith, meekness, temperance : against such there is 
no law" (Gal. 5:22, 23). "I therefore, the pris- 
oner of the Lord, beseech you that ye walk worthy 
of the vocation wherewith ye are called, with all 
lowliness and meekness, with longsuffering, for- 
bearing one another in love ; endeavouring to keep 
the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace" 
(Eph. 4:1-3). "And grieve not the Holy Spirit 
of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of re- 
demption" (Eph. 4:30). ""Wherefore be ye not 



The Believer's Present Victory 161 

unwise, but understanding what the will of the 
Lord is. And be not drunk with wine, wherein is 
excess; but be filled with the Spirit; speaking to 
yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual 
songs, singing and making melody in your heart 
to the Lord; giving thanks always for all things 
unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord 
Jesus Christ" (Eph. 5:17-20). "Wherefore take 
unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be 
able to withstand in the evil day, and having done 
all, to stand" (Eph. 6: 13). "If ye then be risen 
with Christ, seek those things which are above, 
where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. 
Set your affection on things above, not on things 
on the earth" (Col. 3:1, 2). 

These requirements are evidently heavenly in 
character, and demand nothing less than that which 
is becoming to that sphere. They are, therefore, 
beyond human strength ; for what human power is 
able to "give thanks always for all things"? Or 
to avoid grieving the Holy Spirit? "Who can be 
filled with the Spirit, or rejoice in tribulation? In 
fact, these demands are often treated as impractical 
ideals, rather than present requirements; while in 
reality they are binding on every child of God. To 
fail in them at any point, will not unsave^one (Rom. 
4:5) ; but that failure will profane the heavenly 
citizenship, dishonor God in whose grace he is 
standing (Eom. 5:2), and give the enemy occasion 
to accuse the brethren before God ; for Satan judges 
the Christian according to the basis of the heavenly 
ideals rather than according to the standards of 



162 



Satan 



earth. No one can contemplate these impossible 
responsibilities without a sense of utter helpless- 
ness and insufficiency. 

Again, the believer must not only meet the im- 
possible demands of a heavenly position, but he is 
called upon to face a world-ruling foe, who with all 
his kingdom and power is seeking to break and mar 
that life into which the divine nature has been re- 
ceived. The revelation that Satan is going about 
as a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour, 
presents a truth that should disarm the believer 
of all self-confidence and cause him to dread, above 
all things else, the subtle devices of this foe. In 
this connection Eph. 6 : 10-12, R. V., may well be 
restated: 4 'Finally, brethren, be strong in the 
Lord, and in the strength of his might. Put on 
the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to 
stand against the wiles of the devil. For our 
wrestling is not against flesh and blood, but against 
the principalities, against the powers, against the 
world rulers of this darkness, against the spiritual 
host of wickedness in the heavenlies. " In view of 
this opposition of Satan, it is still more evident that 
the requirements of the Christian life are beyond 
any human power. 

So, also, there is a fallen human nature within 
the child of God which is prone to dishonor God, 
and is itself beyond the control of the human will. 
This important and much misunderstood truth is 
taken up at length in Eom. 7:14-25: "For we 
know that the law is spiritual : but I am carnal, sold 
under sin. For that which I do I allow not: for 



The Believer's Present Victory 163 

what I would, that do I not ; but what I hate, that 
do I. If then I do that which I would not, I con- 
sent unto the law that it is good. Now then it is 
no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me. 
For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh), dwell- 
eth no good thing : for to will is present with me ; 
but how to perform that which is good I find not. 
For the good that I would I do not: but the evil 
which I would not, that I do. Now if I do that I 
would not, it is no more I that do it, but sin that 
dwelleth in me. I find then a law, that, when I 
would do good, evil is present with me. For I de- 
light in the law of God after the inward man : but 
I see another law in my members, warring against 
the law of my mind, and bringing me into cap- 
tivity to the law of sin which is in my members. 
0 wretched man that I am ! who shall deliver me 
from the body of this death ? I thank God through 
Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind I 
myself serve the law 7 of God ; but with the flesh the 
law of sin." 

This battle between the old nature and the new 
is, then, never gained for God by human power or 
by religious exercise : but through the power of the 
indwelling Spirit alone. 

Thus the believer, as he contemplates his heavenly 
responsibility, is confronted with a threefold im- 
possibility. First, the heavenly position demands 
a manner of life which is beyond any human possi- 
bility. Second, the enemy is stronger than he, and 
can thwart every resolution. Third, the believer s 
fallen nature entices him to do positive evil when 



164 



Satan 



he would do good. Notwithstanding this threefold 
impossibility, there is a clear call to a victorious 
life, wherein every thought is brought into cap- 
tivity to the obedience of Jesus Christ (2 Cor. 
10:5), and if the believer fails by one degree, he 
will dishonor the God who has called him. 

Where, then, is the relief from this dilemma? 
It is found only in the power of the Spirit. God 
has provided a complete salvation from the domin- 
ion and power of evil, which is a real victory — the 
only victory for the believer in this present life and 
conflict. It is a second form or tense of salvation, 
for it is possible to be saved from the condemnation 
and penalty of sin, and still to be under its domin- 
ion and power. Salvation from the power of the 
world, the flesh, and the devil, may be secured as 
freely and completely as the salvation from the 
penalty of sin, and on the same terms ; yet its terms 
and conditions are so unlike the methods of the 
world that often it seems unreal, even to Christians. 

Xo instructed person expects to be free from 
condemnation, or justified before God, by virtue of 
his moral character ; nor can there be freedom from 
the power of sin by virtue of the resolutions of the 
human will. Though the Christian life is impos- 
sible to human strength, it is within the power of 
God; and He offers to supply all that He requires, 
even to the measure of a completely victorious life. 
Since it is necessarily a divine undertaking, the 
human part can be no more than an attitude of 
expectation or faith toward God, — an attitude 
which reckons self to be helpless, and God alone to 



The Believer's Present Victory 165 

be sufficient. It is a perpetual realization of the 
principle of faith and, therefore, at every point 
contradicts Satan's principle of self-help. 

Here, as in every human effort to be God-like, 
Satan's ideals and methods are so thrust upon the 
world that the natural dependence of the creature 
upon the Creator is made to seem to be a weak and 
unreasonable thing. In spite of the teachings of 
Scripture, this worldly mind has found a place in 
the church. It is often as difficult to inspire true 
expectation toward God in the Christian mind in 
the matter of daily victory, as it is to move the self- 
righteous and self-sufficient sinner to believe on 
Christ for regeneration. 

True dependence upon the sufficiency of God is 
thus born through a vision of the utter inability 
of the natural man to meet the demands of the 
heavenly citizenship. The world-citizen may wres- 
tle against flesh and blood to realize his moral 
ideals ; but he has no heavenly standards to fulfil, 
no mighty foe to face, and no conflict of natures. 
Therefore, his low ideals may often be reached by 
virtue of his own resolution and will. Especially 
will this method be adequate for the unregenerate, 
because the energizing power of Satan is working 
in him to cause him both to will and to do the pur- 
pose of Satan (Eph. 2:2) ; but the faith principle 
is the only possible way to victory for the child of 
God, and it must be faith alone. 

As the soul may be eternally lost, while calling 
upon God to help him save himself; so the saint 
who only seeks the assistance of God in the exer- 



Satan 



cise of his own power toward a correct manner of 
life, may be constantly a dishonor to God. The 
principles of faith and of works can no more be 
- mixed in the one case than in the other. They 
both present human impossibilities and, therefore, 
demand the power of God. The Scriptures are 
clear on this point, both in precept and example : 

First, the power of God is the believer's suf- 
ficiency for meeting the heavenly demands: "For 
it is God which worketh in you both to will and to 
do of his good pleasure" (Phil. 2: 13). "Not that 
we are sufficient of ourselves to think anything as 
of ourselves: but our sufficiency is of God" (2 Cor. 
3:5). "But by the grace of God I am what I am: 
and his grace which was bestowed upon me was 
not in vain; but I laboured more abundantly than 
they all : yet not I, but the grace of God which was 
with me" (1 Cor. 15:10). "Are ye so foolish? 
having begun in the Spirit, are ye now made per- 
fect by the flesh?" (Gal. 3:3). "Finally my 
brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power 
of his might" (Eph. 6: 10). The latter passage is 
but the natural culmination of the whole revelation 
of the believer's citizenship and its responsibilities. 
Therefore, the final counsel is to be strong in the 
Lord and in the power of His might. 

Second, the conflict with the enemy can be a vic- 
tory only by the power of God. A remarkable 
revelation is given in the Scriptures of the attitude 
of the angels toward Satan, and this attitude may 
well be considered by fallen man. In Jude 9, 



The Believer's Present Victory 167 

Michael, the archangel, is seen in controversy with 
Satan over the body of Moses. There is no reve- 
lation as to the time or the occasion of this contro- 
versy. It is stated that Moses was buried in secret 
and was later seen in his transfigured and glori- 
fied body, so that it is possible that the removal of 
the body of Moses from the domain of Satan was 
the occasion referred to here. The passage is as 
follows: "Yet Michael, the archangel, w 7 hen con- 
tending with the devil he disputed about the body 
of Moses, durst not bring against him a railing 
accusation, but said, The Lord rebuke thee." In 
like manner in 2 Pet. 2 : 10, the false teachers of 
the end of this age are said to disregard the heav- 
enly powers (evidently evil) which angels dare not 
do. "But chiefly them that walk after the flesh in 
the lust of uncleanness, and despise government. 
Presumptuous are they, self willed, they are not 
afraid to speak evil of dignities. Whereas angels, 
which are greater in power and might, bring not 
railing accusation against them before the Lord." 
There is probably a just regard, on the part of the 
angelic beings, for the fact that Satan is the 
"anointed" of God (Ezek. 28 : 14), as David would 
not lift up his hand against Saul because he was 
the "Lord's anointed" (1 Sam. 24:6). Christ is 
said to be anointed (Ps. 2:2) ; so also is the be- 
liever (1 John 2:27). But it is also shown here 
that the wisdom and strength of even Michael, the 
archangel, and all other celestial beings, is never 
lifted in conflict with Satan. They rely only upon 



i68 



Satan 



the same power that is promised the believer, and 
well may the believer be instructed by their exam- 
ple. 

There are two passages where the child of God is 
directed to resist the devil. The context, however, 
in both passages warns him that it must be in utter 
dependence upon the power of God. He must be 
wholly submitted to God and it must be done 
through a steadfastness of faith. The passages are 
as follows: '''Submit yourselves therefore to God. 
Resist the devil, and he will flee from you" (Jas. 
4:7). ''Be sober, be vigilant ; because your adver- 
sary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, 
seeking whom he may devour : whom resist stead- 
fast in the faith" (1 Pet. 5:8, 9). And the faith 
principle is mentioned among the believer's armor 
in Eph. 6 : 16 as the "shield of faith" by which all 
the fiery darts of the enemy are to be quenched. 

Third, true character may be realized by the 
power of God, in spite of the tendency of the fallen 
nature. This character, however, is that which is 
directly promised by the power of God: "But the 
fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, 
gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance" 
(Gal. 5:22. 23). "For the fruit of the Spirit is 
in all goodness and righteousness and truth" 'Eph. 
5:9). "Ye are of God. little children, and have 
overcome them : because greater is he that is in you, 
than he that is in the world" (1 John 4: 4). Thus 
the true God-honoring character is seen to be the 
result of the power of God. and it is only possible 
to the one who has "ceased from his own labors 



The Believer's Present Victory 7 169 



and has entered into rest." "This is the victory 
that overcorneth the world, even our faith" (1 John 
5:4). This victory demands a constant exercise of 
faith. Faith is never finished here, and any true 
progress in the Christian life is "from faith to 
faith," and it is also said of the one whom God 
has constituted just that he shall "live by faith." 
It should be remembered that the conflict is really 
between Christ and Satan. "Greater is he that 
is in you than he that is in the world." The 
Christian's victory is gained by faith in Him. 

The same objection is often raised against the 
application of the faith principle as a means to the 
consummation of a victorious life, as is raised 
against the same principle for regeneration. In 
this objection it is inferred that when this method 
is adopted, there is no adequate incentive or mo- 
tive left for the individual. Such objections arise 
from a misunderstanding of this truth. 

It is useless to undertake the impossible in any 
case; and in the matter of salvation from the 
penalty of sin, the only work which it is possible 
for God to accept as the ground of redemption is 
that which is already undertaken and fully com- 
pleted by Christ on the cross. By this finished 
work the believer is provided with a perfect stand- 
ing before God, and is raised to the exalted position 
of an ambassador for Christ. That privilege of 
service does not affect the grounds of his salvation, 
but opens to him the glorious possibility of rewards 
(1 Cor. 3:9-15). In the question of salvation 
from the power of sin, the human will may be em- 



Satan 



ployed as an instrument through which the power 
of God may be manifested. The following passages 
reveal how directly He proposes to be the real 
power in the believer's life : "For it is God which 
worketh in you both to will and to do of his good 
pleasure" (Phil. 2:13). "For though we walk 
in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh: (For 
the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but 
mighty through God to the pulling down of strong- 
holds;) casting down imaginations, and every high 
thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of 
God, and bringing into captivity every thought to 
the obedience of Christ" (2 Cor. 10: 3-5). "I can 
do all things through Christ which strengthened 
me" (Phil. 4: 13). "For apart from me ye can do 
nothing" (John 15: 5). 

It is assumed that the believer has recognized the 
perfectness of the will of God and has thrown his 
w r hole being open to His power and guidance. As 
a little child may avail himself of the wisdom and 
experience of his parents through obedience, so the 
believer has become willing to do whatever the 
infinite wisdom and love of God may choose for 
him. When thus committed to the will of God, and 
in true faith depending on Him, the mighty power 
of the Spirit will work in him and through him to 
the glory of God. "This I say then, Walk in the 
Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh" 
(Gal 5: 16). "For the law of the Spirit of life in 
Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin 
and death" (Eom. 8:2). Salvation in any form 



The Believer's Present Victory 171 

is, therefore, "not of works, lest any man should 
boasts 1 

It remains to be seen, in view of the perilous 
position of the believer in the enemy's land, that 
God has not only provided every needed force for 
conquest and victory, but has given positive prom- 
ises for the security of the one whom He has re- 
ceived on the ground of the shed blood of Christ, 
"Hast not thou made an hedge about him, and 
about his house, and about all that he hath on every 
side?" (Job 1:10). "My Father, which gave 
them me, is greater than all ; and no man [nothing] , 
is able to pluck them out of my Father's hand" 
(John 10:29). "There hath no temptation taken 
you but such as is common to man: but God is 
faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above 
that ye are able ; but will with the temptation also 
make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear 
it" (1 Cor. 10: 13). "Who shall lay anything to 
the charge of God's elect? It is God that justi- 
fieth. Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ 
that died, yea, rather that is risen again, who is 
even at the right hand of God, who also maketh 
intercession for us. Who shall separate us from 
the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or 
persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or 
sword? As it is written, For thy sake we are 
killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep 
for the slaughter. Nay, in all these things we are 

1 The Bible teaching concerning the power of God in the 
life of the believer is fully presented in the Author's book, 
"He That Is Spiritual." 



172 



Satan 



more than conquerors through him that loved 
us. For I am persuaded that neither death, nor 
life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor 
things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor 
depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to sepa- 
rate us from the love of God, which is in Christ 
Jesus our Lord." 

An Appeal. 

This book will have accomplished its mission if 
you, its reader, are by it made more conscious of 
what it means to be translated from the power of 
darkness into the kingdom of God's dear Son. Will 
you not be more sure of your saving faith in Christ 
than of any other fact in your life, since upon this 
faith your eternity depends? 

On the other hand, if you know you are saved, 
the ministry of this book has been accomplished if 
by its message you know more of the devices of the 
enemy of God, and are able to enter more intelli- 
gently into the way of escape which grace has pro- 
vided. 

"Now unto him that is able to keep you from fall- 
ing, and to present you faultless before the pres- 
ence of his glory with exceeding joy, to the only 
wise God our Saviour, be glory and majesty, do- 
minion and power, both now and ever, Amen." 



THE END 



INDEX OF SUBJECTS 



pagb 

Age of grace 23 

Age of law 23. 159 

Ages 21-36 

Ages are testings of man 49 

An Appeal 172 

Authority of Satan 10, 75-7 7 

Believer's fallen nature 162, 163 

Believer's foe 162 

Believer's manner of life 160, 161 

Believer's present position 141-158 

Believer's present victory 159-172 

Believer's three-fold impossibility 162-164 

Believing unfulfilled prophecy 37 

Blood, the ground of salvation 120-122 

Career of Satan 3-20 

Central truth of the faith ~ 128 

Christian's obligation to the world 154-158 

Christian Science 130, 131 

Christ's return 32-36, 125-127 

Churches without Christ 135-137 

Counterfeit of Trinity 105-110 

Counterfeit substitutes 128-140 

Counterfeits of the truth 85-93, 111 

Course of the age ...... 37-48 

Creation of Satan 4-7 

Descriptions of Satan 72 

Demon possession 65-68 

Demons are wicked 67 

Demons in the last days 67-70 

Demons, not "devils" 64 

Demons, their motives 69 

Demons, their service 64 

Divisions of Scripture 141, 144 

Doctrine Satanic . 112 

Earliest revelations 3-12 

Enemies of Christ to-day 86-89 

Enemies of the cross 122-124 

Enmity of Satan toward believers 80-83 

Error covered by truth 134 

Faith and works contrasted .....165, 166, 169 

Fallen angels 63 

False systems of doctrine 130-140 

False teachers 92 

Five "I wills" of Satan 12, 13 

God imitated by Satan 76 

God's power in salvation 120 

God's power is sufficient 166 

God saves through faith alone 116 



173 



174 Index of Subjects 

Heavenly citizenship 148, P 149 

Heavenly places 149—151 

High ideals apart from Christ 136-138 

How resist the Devil 168 

Human efforts fail 164, 165 

\ 

Infidel, the word obsolete 86 

Israel and the Church 27, 28 

Jews not cast off 27 

Kingdom of God 24 

Kingdom of heaven ... . . 25 

Kingdom not a process 30 

Kingdom promised 29 

King of Tyrus 3-8 

Last day conditions 87-93 

Last days of the Church 135, 136 

Life eternal bestowed 146-148 

Life struggle of Satan 77 

Life truth 142 

Looking for Christ's return 125-127 

Lust, its meaning 152 

Man dependent on God 115 

Man of Sin 94-110 

Man of Sin, his titles 103 

Man of Sin prophesied 94-110 

Millennial Dawnism 133. 134 

Ministers of Satan 90-92 

Miracles in Satan's power 105-107. 129 

Modern devices 125-140 

New theology 134, 135 

New Thoughtism 132, 133 

Omission of the cross 118-124 

Order of events 30, 95, 99-101 

Order of Gentile governments 31-36 

Order of truth in grace 142-144 

Parables of Matthew thirteen 40-42 

Paul's ambition 42 

Perilous position of the Christian 171 

Person and work of Christ 118 

Positional truth 142-144 

Pragmatism applied 138—140 

Pragmatism defined 138 

Purpose of this age 39 

Regeneration by the Spirit 146-148 

Religion used by Satan 114-116, 130 

Religion cannot save 115 

Return of Christ, Satan's attitude 125-127 

Satanic system 49-61 

Satanic system and Christ 60 

Satanic system and property 59, 60 

Satanic system and war 59 

Satanic host 62-70 



Index of Subjects 



175 



PAG1 

Satanic system, its ideals 58, 59 

Satanic system, its limitations 60, 61 

Satanic system, Satan its head 52-54 

Satanic system, wholly evil 54-57 

Satan a creature 6 

Sat.-m and the unsaved 43-48, 73, 74, 84 

Satan created perfect 6 

Satan judged, but not executed 15, 16 

Satan not in hell 11 

Satan subject to God 166 

Satan's attack upon Adam 13—15 

Satan's attack upon Christ 13-15 

Satan's attack upon the line of seed 14 

Satan's authority incomplete 5 r > 5] 

Satan's crime 6-8, 12-14 

Satan's execution 11 

Satan's final judgment 13, 19 

Satan's judgment in the cross 14 15 

Satan's hope 17 

Satan's limitation 70 

Satan's methods 80-93. Ill 

Satan's method adapted 84-86 

Satan's mission as created 6-8 

Satan's moral fall 11 

Satan's motive 71-79 

Satan's power over humanity 5 7 

Satan's present abode 8-11 

Satan's purpose 73, 74 

Satan's throne 10 

Saved and unsaved contrasted 144, 151 

Spirit given 148 

Spirit's illumination 145, 146 

Spiritism 131, 132 

The fatal omission 111-124 

The new situation 139, 140 

The world and Satan's ideals 73. 74 

Three meanings to the word "world" 21. 22 

Three periods in Daniel nine 96—98 

Time of tribulation 96-98 

Titles, a part of counterfeit 93 

Tribulation 51, 71, 91-98 

Tribulation and Christians 99 

Translation errors 21, 22, 52 

Truth in part accepted 84, 85 

Two activities of Satan 80 

Two Edens 6 

Two errors 33 

Two important meetings •_• 13 

Two lines of seed 27, 

Two orders of beings 63, 64 

Two plans of salvation 117 

Two programs 78. 112-114 

Two theories contrasted *2, 43 



Usurper to the throne . . 
Unsaved related to Satan 

Value of primary truth . 
Value of secondary truth 
Victory by the Spirit . . 



176 



Index of Subjects 



PAGl 

Victory over sin 168, 16fl 

Why evil is permitted 16, 17, 50, 71 

World rejection of the cross 124 

Worship of Satan 71 



Index of Scripture Texts 



Genesis page 

1:1,2 3 

3:5 78 

3:6 59 

13: 16 27 

15: 5 27 

Leviticus 

17: 7 75, 129 

Deuteronomy 

32: 7 75 

1 Samuel 

24: 6 167 

1 Chronicles 
21: 1 • 4 

2 Chronicles 
11: 15 75, 129 

Job 

1:6 9 

1: 9-12 58 

1:10 171 

38: 7 8 

Psalms 

2:2 167 

2:9 17 

8:3 120 

48 : 1 6 

68: 15 6 

Isaiah 

2:2 54 

9:6 35 

11: 6-9 33 

11: 12 35 

14: 2 9 

14: 12-20 7, 12 

14: 14 78 

24: 1 3 

85 : 5, 6 35 

53: 1 120 

53:4-6 121 

55: 8, 9 55 

65: 17-21 34 

Jeremiah 

4:23-26 3 

81: 33, 34 35 



Ezekiel page 

28 : 11-19 3 

28: 14 167 

28: 16 8 

Daniel 

2: 100 

2: 34-35 31 

2: 44 99 

2: 44, 45 100 

7: 100, 101 

7: 11-14 99 

7: 23-27 101 

9:2 72 

9: 24-27 96, 100 

11: 36 100 

11 : 36-39 102, 110 

12 : 1 20, 98 

Joel 

2:2 98 

3: 18 34 

Micah 

4: 3, 4 36 

Zechariah 

2:10,11 34 

8:23 34 

Matthevr 

8: 16 65 

8: 28 67 

8:29 17, 69 

9: 32, 33 65 

10: 1 67 

12: 26 64 

12: 32 23 

12:43-45 65, 67 

13: 40, 90 

13:38,39 23, 43 

16: 18 26 

16: 23 14 

17: 21 70 

18: 35 150 

19 : 28 16. 150 

20 : 28 121 

22: 22-30 62 

24: 3 23 

24: 15 100 

24: 21 20 

24: 21. 22 98 

24: 3 7-39 42 

25: 31 32 

177 



178 Index of Scripture Texts 



Matthew (continued) page 

25: 41 64 

28: 18-20 150 

28:20 24, 39 

Mark 

1:23-25 69 

4: 19 60 

5: 1-13 67 

5:2-5 67 

5: 12 65 

7:21,23 74 

9: 20 67 

Luke 

1:31-33 16, 28 

1: 32, 33 35 

1: 70 22 

4: 5, 6 103 

4:5-7 53 

4:7 59 

10: 8 11 

13: 16 57 

16: 8 24 

21: 24 31 

22: 31 58 

22: 31, 32 9 

John page 

1: 12, 13 146 

1:29 121 

3:5-8 147 

3: 12 150 

3:18 16, 55 

5: 43 103 

8: 44 7, 43, 63 

10: 10 147 

10 : 29 47, 144, 171 

12: 25 152 

12:31 15, 52 

14:30 52, 56 

15:5 170 

16: 8-11 145 

16:11 15, 52 

16: 33 81 

17: 15 82 

Acts 

1:6 29 

3: 21 22 

8: 6, 7 65 

10: 38 57 

13: 10 43 

15:13-18 28, 29 

15: 14 26 

15: 18 26 

19: 15 69 

26: 18 145 

Romans 

1: 16 87, 128 

1: 18 44 



Romans (continued) page 

3 : 9-18 71 

3: 10-18 96 

3: 11 61 

3: 25 121 

4:1-5 27 

4:5 161 

5:2 161 

5:5 81, 148 

5: 8. 9 121 

5: 18, 19 16 

7:5 45 

7: 14-25 162 

8:2 170 

8:9 148 

8: 17 150 

8 : 18 150 

8: 29 113 

12: 1 160 

12: 2 57 

13: 1 51 

14: 13-21 155 

14: 22 157 

16: 25 , 26 

1 Corinthians 

1: 19 37 

1 : 23. 24 87, 128 

2 : 12 148 

2: 10 89 

2:14.15 60, 92 

3 : 9-15 169 

3 : 21-23 154 

6:2.3 16, 28 

6: 19 148 

10: 13 171 

10: 20, 21 75 

11: 26 23 

12: 6 47 

12: 11 45 

15: 10 166 

15: 24, 25 24 

15 : 25 17 

15 48 150 

2 Corinthians 

2: 15, 16 43 

3:5 166 

4: 3. 4 47, 65 

4:4 52 

5:1-8 149 

5: 17 147 

5: 20 153 

5: 21 121 

7: 10 61 

10: 3-5 170 

10: 5 164 

11: 1-3 150 

11: 13-15 90 

12: 7 58 

13:5 148 



Index of Scripture Texts 179 



Galatians page 

1:4 57, 121, 148 

2:8 45 

2: 20 148 

3:3 166 

5: 16 170 

5: 22, 23 • .160, 168 

6:15 147 

Ephesians 

1:3 150 

1:4 H9 

i; 7 11 9 

1: 19, 20 45, 120 

1: 20, 21 • • 24 

2-1 2 44, 52, 144 

o '. 9 ' 144, 165 

L' 3 ::::: 

o. 6 I 50 

o! 7 119 

g:i_ii*:::: 25 

L'io 1 . ^ 

3:20 f 

4 to 6 1^3 

4:1-3 

4: 18 48 

4: 30 ^0 

5:6 • 

5: 17-20 1?1 

5: 22, 23 lo A * 

5:25 *2 

6:10 166 

6: 10-12 162 

6 6 ; 1 1 1 2 - 12 7.7.7.7/. bV. 69 
S; 13 ::: to. i« 

6: 16 168 

Philipruans _ n 

-i . o q 150 

2:13 '.'.'.'44. 144, 166, 170 

q . 1 a 

3.20 113, 149, iro 
L is ::: 1™ 

C0l l S -lT ...-57, 144. 147 

1:24 If 

1: 27 I 4 ?. 

1: 29 

2: 13-15 Y 

3.3 144 

V 4 '.' 133. 150 

sie ; • 44 

1 Thessalonians 

4:13-17 27, 95 

5:4.5 127 

5: 16-18. 22 160 

2 Thessalonians 

2: 1-10 103, 104 

2: 2, 3 . .70, 94, 103 



2 Thessalonians (cont'd) PAG1 

2:4 80 

2 : 4-8 100 

2:7 47, 50 

2:8 99, 103 

2: 9, 10 72, 93 

1 Timothv 

4:1,2 70, 89 

2 Timothy 

2 : 11.12 150 

2: 15 37 

3:1-5 87 

3:2 133 

3:9 71 

3: 12 81 

3 : 13 42 

4: 3, 4 137 

Titus 

2: 12 24 

3:5 147 

Hebrews 

2: 14 57 

3:1 150 

10: 11-14 121 

10 : 19-20 130 

11: 13 152 

James 

1: 14, 15 73 

1: 27 55 

2: 19 69 

4:4 56, 152 

4:7 168 

1 Peter 

1:4 150 

1:7-9 81 

1: 19 120 

2: 9-12 15 

2: 24 122 

3: 18 122 

5: 8, 9 10, 168 

2 Peter 

1:4 56, 81. 147 

2 : 1, 2 123 

2:4 63 

2: 10 167 

2 : 20 56 

3: 3, 4 127 

1 John 

2:2 122 

2 : 15-17 152 

2 : 16 59 

2: 17 61 

2: 27 167 

3:1 60 

3:2 H3 

3 : 12 14 

3:13 60, 81 



180 Index of Scripture Texts 



1 John (continued) page Revelation (continued) page 

3: 17 59 2 : 24 89 

4:3 56 3: 10-18 55 

4:4 54, 60, 70, 168 3:17-20 136 

4:5 61 3 : 21 16, 28, 150 

4: 17 153 9: 20 75, 129 

5:4 56, 169 12 : 7-9 10 

5:11,12 150 12:7-12 ...17, 32, 99, 103 

5: 19 46, 54, 144 12 : 9 72 

13: 72, 76 

2 John page 13 : 1 103 

: 10 92 13 : 1-8 103. 105 

13: 2 129 

Jude 13: 3, 4 138 

: 6 63 13: 11-18 108 

; 24 113 19: 1-9 150 

19: 20 99, 107 

Revelation 20 : 1-10 19 

2 and 3 40 20: 2, 3 73 

2: 13 62 20: 7, 8 73 



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